Internet-based 'social sharing' as a new form of global production: The case of SETI@home

Benkler ('Sharing Nicely', Yale Law Journal, 2004, Vol. 114, pp. 273-358) has argued that 'social sharing' via Internet-based distributed computing is a new, so far under-appreciated modality of economic production. This paper presents results from an empirical study of SETI@home (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which is the classic example of such a computing project. The aim is to explain SETI@home participation and its intensity in a cross-country setting. The data are for a sample of 172 developed and developing countries for the years 2002-2004. The results indicate that SETI@home participation and its intensity can be explained largely by the degree of ICT access (proxied by the International Telecommunication Union's 'Digital Access Index'), as well as GDP per capita and dummy variables for major country groups. Some other variables, such as the Human Development Index, perform less well. Although SETI@home is a global phenomenon, it is never-the-less mostly concentrated in rich countries. However, there are indications of a slowly narrowing global SETI@home digital divide

The (un)happiness of knowledge and the knowledge of (un)happiness: Happiness research and policies for knowledge-based economies

Paper presented to the International Conference Policies for Happiness, June 14-17, 2007, Certosa di Pontignano, University of Siena, Italy.This paper explores the current state and interfaces of two broad policy discourses, i.e. that of policies for knowledge-based economies (KBEs) and policy implications of happiness research, which so far have exhibited little explicit cross-referencing. I first review the state of 'mainstream' knowledge policy associated with the OECD, the related but somewhat separate literature on information society indicators, and some 'non-mainstream' knowledge policy analysis. This is followed by a brief overview of some of the major policy implications and controversies in happiness research. Next, I discuss major interfaces of the two policy discourses. They mostly concern the nexus of education, work and innovation. I also illustrate the diversity of beliefs and values about some core elements of KBEs in a group of what are usually regarded as similar countries, and advocate the use of subjective variables to capture these differences. The main argument put forward in this paper is that policies for KBEs should be informed by insights from happiness research

The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom

No abstract availabl

ICT Intensity and New Zealand's Productivity Malaise: Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

This paper contributes to the conflicting international evidence on the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on labour productivity (LP) growth. We examine the link between ICT intensity and New Zealand's LP growth in 29 industries over the period 1988-2003, and over relevant sub-periods. After deriving an ICT intensity index to classify industries into 'more ICT intensive' and 'less ICT intensive', we compare LP growth rates for these two industry categories. We also employ dummy variable regression models to more formally test the relationships between ICT intensity and LP growth. The results prove sensitive to the time period specified. When breaks in the data series are taken into account, there is support for the view that LP growth of more ICT intensive industries has improved over time relative to that of other industries, even though overall LP growth was weak. Lack of LP growth per se, therefore, is not necessarily evidence against the beneficial productivity impacts of ICT

Review of Yochai Benkler's 2006 book "The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom", published in Prometheus, Vol. 25, No. 1, March 2007, pp. 99-103.

No abstract availabl

THE ELUSIVE CONTRIBUTION OF ICT TO PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN NEW ZEALAND: EVIDENCE FROM AN EXTENDED INDUSTRY-LEVEL GROWTH ACCOUNTING MODEL

This paper explores the impacts of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on economic growth in New Zealand. Using an extended industry-level growth accounting model to analyse the proximate sources of growth in per capita output, we focus on differences in total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its sub-components, as well as other major components of labour productivity (LP) growth, that emerge between 'more ICT intensive' and 'less ICT intensive' industries. Employing, alternatively, gross output and net output data, we find great differences and distinct patterns in the growth contributions of the two types of industries. However, the quest to find evidence of positive ICT impacts is still somewhat elusive. Although TFP growth of more ICT intensive industries has steadily increased in importance over time, 'pure' or within-industry productivity effects are smaller than structural change effect, and LP growth has only accelerated in recent years.Growth accounting, ICT intensive industries, Labour productivity growth, Total factor productivity growth, New Zealand,