[Wikimedia-l] The value of Wikipedia for the economy

[Lodewijk]

Hi all,

Last weekend we had a discussion about how to 'sell' the importance of
Wikipedia to economics-focused people (a.k.a. politicians etc), and the
question came up on how much Wikipedia contributes to the global economy.
Many people access it daily, and the information they get from that might
help them to run businesses, be more efficient etc. Third world countries
(and maybe even the rest of the world) might have better educated people
thanks to Wikipedia, which might make better and more efficient workers,
higher literacy and cheaper university educations.

Has there been any scientific (or other) research on the effect Wikipedia
has (or had) on the world economy, or even the economy of a specific
country/region? There are some numbers what Wikipedia would be 'worth' if
it were a commercial company, but that is not what I'm looking for. What is
Wikipedia worth to society, the way it currently runs.

Alternatively, are there similar studies to other knowledge compendiums, or
even 'the internet'?

Thanks for any pointers!

Lodewijk