Although it has become a cliché that developed nations have moved into knowledge-based economies, precious little research has been done on that shift.
Now, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has produced a new study which shows the most knowledge-intensive economy at mid-decade was that of Western Germany..
The knowledge economy accounted for 58.6 percent of business output in Germany in 1996, 55.3 percent in the U.S., 53 percent for Japan, and 51.5 percent in 1995 for Britain.
In 1994, the figure for the European Union as a whole was 48.4 percent — being notably dragged down by Italy.
Even in high-tech industries where the U.S. is widely thought to be ahead, the OECD study has America coming in behind Japan and Britain.
High-tech industries produce 3.7 percent of Japan’s business output and 3.3 percent of Britain’s — but just 3 percent of that of the U.S.
In the OECD as a whole, knowledge-based industries accounted for over half of rich-country business output in the mid-1990s — up from about 45 percent in 1985.
Source: National Center for Policy Analysis quoting “Knowledge Gap,” Economist, October 16, 1999.
