Doing Business in the Knowledge-Based Economy

On September 17 and 18, 1998, a conference took place at Mont Tremblant on the theme "Doing Business in a Knowledge-Based Economy." This conference brought together some hundred participants from government, business and academia, with backgrounds in business administration, engineering, public administration and economics, to provide a multidisciplinary analysis of what has come to be known as the "Knowledge-Based Economy" (KBE). The aim was to come up with suggestions and recommendations about how to do business in a knowledge based economy, both at the firm level and at the government level. All presenters were explicitly asked to conclude with policy recommendations. The conference was sponsored by Industry Canada and organized by the Centre of Interuniversity Research on the Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO). The conference papers offered U.S., Canadian and European perspectives on the management of a knowledge-based economy. This volume is divided into three parts. The papers in part I set the stage by describing the salient features of the KBE. What is so special about it? What are its economic underpinnings? What are its technological characteristics? Knowledge plays a crucial role in a KBE, hence its name. Whereas, in the past, growth was determined primarily by the availability of land, natural resources, labour and capital successively, at the end of the twentieth century, knowledge has become a (if not the) major factor of economic growth.

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This volume was prepared by a select group of international experts in response to a need expressed by the Canadian government to identify and analyze some of the major challenges facing governments in conducting business in the knowledge-based economy. Special emphasis is placed on identifying the policy issues which governments will need to address in the upcoming years. br/ This volume presents essays in three primary categories: /li li Trends and Forces Shaping the New Reality /li li Restructuring and Reorganizing in a Knowledge-Based Economy /li li Key Governance Issues in the Knowledge-Based Economy £/LIST£ Part one describes the salient features of the knowledge-based economy. What are its economic underpinnings? What are its technological characteristics? Whereas, in the past, growth was determined primarily by the availability of land, natural resources, labor, and capital, at the end of the twentieth century knowledge has become the major factor of economic growth.br/ Part two examines management issues and economic phenomena typical of a knowledge-based economy. What makes new technology adoption and implementation successful? What can government do to make it more successful? br/ Part three is directly focused toward questions of political economy and economic policy considerations, including technical, economic, and societal solutions. br/ The volume concludes with a summary of the new ways in which firms and governments should manage business in a knowledge-based economy.

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1. Trends and Forces Shaping the New Reality.- 1. The Emerging Global Knowledge-Based Economy: Trends and Forces.- 2. The Economic Underpinnings of a Knowledge-Based Economy.- 3. The Global Information Infrastructure: From the Virtual Enterprise to the Virtual Economy.- 2. Restructuring and Reorganizing in a Knowledge-Based Economy.- 4. Organizational Learning and Intellectual Capital.- 5. U.S. Manufacturing: Technology and Public Policy in the Knowledge Age.- 6. Industry University Government Research Partnerships for Economic Development in the U.S..- 7. A Firm-Based Approach to Industry Classification: Identifying the Knowledge-Based Economy.- 8. The Cost of Capital for Knowledge-Based Enterprises in Canada.- 9. Innovation, M&As and International Competition with an Application to Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology.- 3. Key Governance Issues in the Knowledge-Based Economy.- 10. Electronic Commerce and the Information Highway.- 11. Public Management of Positive Research Externalities.- 12. Intellectual Property Rights and the Transition to the Knowledge-Based Economy.- 13. Industrial Restructuring in the Knowledge-Based Economy.- 14. Canadian Public Policy in a Knowledge-Based Economy.- 4. Summing-Up: What Have We Learned?.- 15. Bringing it Together: Some Policy Challenges.