The purpose of this paper is to explore the conceptual adequacy of the learning economy and its ability to describe the modern globalised economy. It is argued that unlike many…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the conceptual adequacy of the learning economy and its ability to describe the modern globalised economy. It is argued that unlike many fleeting catchwords and phrases found in economics, the learning economy represents a superior conceptual and heuristic starting point that reflects a new and emerging economic regime.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines those features of the learning economy which makes it a useful conceptualization and highlights some preconditions that are functional for its emergence. The paper then assesses the empirical validity of the learning economy and gauges its performance across 16 EU countries.
Findings
The learning economy represents a viable and useful concept in economics and the broader social sciences, which synthesizes recent attempts to depict what is new in the world economy into an internally coherent whole while overcoming previous shortcomings. It reflects a tangible reality that has taken hold most firmly in a small but significant part of the world, the Nordic countries of Northwestern Europe.
Social implications
Because it has already emerged in some advanced countries, the learning economy offers a concrete exemplar for other countries to emulate. If one has to ask people and communities to sacrifice, save and invest for the future, it is more convincing to do so for a concrete and credible future that does exist than for some conjectural future.
Originality/value
The paper uses an epistemological perspective to analyse the concept of the learning economy as articulated by Bengt-Äke Lundvall.
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Keywords
This chapter is about the production, diffusion and use of knowledge seen in an economic perspective. Fundamental distinctions between tacit and explicit knowledge and between…
Abstract
This chapter is about the production, diffusion and use of knowledge seen in an economic perspective. Fundamental distinctions between tacit and explicit knowledge and between know-how, know-why, know-what and know-who are related to distinctions between public/private and local/global knowledge. It is argued that the idea of the economy as being knowledge based is misleading and that we have moved into a learning economy where interactive learning is a key to economic performance of firms, regions and nations. This is one reason why a narrow economic perspective is insufficient. When it comes to understand industrial dynamics in the learning economy it is necessary to bring in other disciplines than economics in the analysis.
Bengt-Åke Lundvall and Jesper Lindgaard Christensen
The aim of this book is to contribute to the understanding of product innovation – how it takes place and how it affects the economy. Our analysis of product innovation links it…
Abstract
The aim of this book is to contribute to the understanding of product innovation – how it takes place and how it affects the economy. Our analysis of product innovation links it to interactive learning and to the performance of firms. On the basis of unique data sets and detailed case studies we study the interconnections between these three elements from different angles. We believe that the book will prove helpful for managers, employees and policy makers as well as for all those in academia who wants to understand the role of product innovation in the economy.
Bengt-Åke Lundvall and Anker Lund Vinding
In this chapter it is shown that, in spite of the fundamental importance for economic growth of product innovation, standard economic theory – neo-classical as well as transaction…
Abstract
In this chapter it is shown that, in spite of the fundamental importance for economic growth of product innovation, standard economic theory – neo-classical as well as transaction cost approaches to industrial organization – tends to neglect it. It is also shown that moving the focus to product innovation leads to very different conclusions on how alternative institutional set-ups affect economic performance. Institutional set ups assumed to optimise allocation and minimise transaction costs do not support innovation and growth. That is why producer goods where innovation is a regular phenomenon are transacted neither in pure markets nor in hierarchies. The omnipresence of “organized markets” reflects the need for users as well as producers to engage in on-going information exchange and interactive learning in connection with product innovation.
Bengt‐Åke Lundvall and Peter Nielsen
The purpose of this paper is to show why the establishment of “learning organisations” must be a central element of knowledge management – especially in firms operating on markets…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show why the establishment of “learning organisations” must be a central element of knowledge management – especially in firms operating on markets where product innovation is an important parameter of competition.
Design/methodology/approach
The argument straddles and combines insights related to management and organisation theory with an evolutionary economic analysis of the relationship between innovation, learning and knowledge. It is supported by an empirical analysis of survey data on Danish private sector firms. The survey was addressed to all firms in the private urban sector with 25 or more employees, supplemented with a stratified proportional sample of firms with 20‐25 employees.
Findings
The analysis shows that firms that introduce several organisational practices, assumed to characterise the learning organisation, are more innovative than the average firm.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical findings are limited to the private sector and do not cover public sector organisations.
Practical implications
The learning organisation characteristics have a positive impact on dynamic performance and there are obviously lessons to be learned from the successful firms operating in turbulent environments that introduce specific organisational characteristics such as job rotation, inter‐divisional teams, delegation of responsibility and reducing the number of levels in the organisational hierarchy.
Originality/value
The paper puts “knowledge management” into the wider concept of “learning economy” and shows how a key element of knowledge management is to enhance the learning capacity of the firm.
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Using the Employment in Britain dataset (a representative sample of employees in Britain in 1992) we analyse the determinants of learning within organizations at employee level…
Abstract
Using the Employment in Britain dataset (a representative sample of employees in Britain in 1992) we analyse the determinants of learning within organizations at employee level. Questions were asked about the role of learning new skills in the respondent’s job. Various determinants of learning are explored such as human resource management practices, career patterns etc. These results are set within the context of a “competence building system” and related to current debates within the national systems of innovation literature.
This chapter seeks to explain how societal institutions, which may exist at the national or regional levels, shape the types of organizational learning predominating at the level…
Abstract
This chapter seeks to explain how societal institutions, which may exist at the national or regional levels, shape the types of organizational learning predominating at the level of the firm. It focuses on education and training systems, and labour markets as key societal institutions shaping the micro-level processes of learning and knowledge creation within and between firms. The chapter argues that tacit knowledge, which is difficult to create and transfer in the absence of social interaction and labour mobility, constitutes a most important source of learning and sustainable competitive advantage in the knowledge economy. It looks at the cases of Japan, the high-technology clusters in the USA and U.K., and Denmark as illustrative examples.