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
The value would be obvious if Wikipedia were a for profit company listed on the stock markets. Not that it would have a real value identical to a computation based on imagined advertising revenue. It is in the billions though.
Fred
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 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga... http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
If the internet could be sold at auction giving the buyer an exclusive permanent monopoly to license all internet activity what would it sell for?
Fred
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga... http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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In preparation of the strategic planning a few years ago, we at the Audi committee made some calculation to estimate the theoretical potential of donation from different perspectives, like what other NGO got.
We then come to the standpoint that the potential was several times that of 2009-2010 donations. We have now already doubled that amount, and perhaps we are getting closer to the theoretical potential, but this gives the estimate of a potential donation of something between 50-200 MUSD. And the benefit must surely be a few times of the potential donations, So a rough estimate of benefit based on this reasoning would be in the magnitude of 100-500 MUSD/year Anders
Andrew Gray skrev 2013-04-08 14:36:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga... http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
However, those numbers are not exactly what I'm looking for. I do not want to know what it would be worth as a company, or how much people are willing to pay for it. But how big is the impact? How much positive value does Wikipedia add to the world economy? I hope this number is significantly higher than what people would be willing to donate (although it would give a far low minimum).
2013/4/8 Anders Wennersten mail@anderswennersten.se
In preparation of the strategic planning a few years ago, we at the Audi committee made some calculation to estimate the theoretical potential of donation from different perspectives, like what other NGO got.
We then come to the standpoint that the potential was several times that of 2009-2010 donations. We have now already doubled that amount, and perhaps we are getting closer to the theoretical potential, but this gives the estimate of a potential donation of something between 50-200 MUSD. And the benefit must surely be a few times of the potential donations, So a rough estimate of benefit based on this reasoning would be in the magnitude of 100-500 MUSD/year Anders
Andrew Gray skrev 2013-04-08 14:36:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/**finance-and-economics/** 21573091-how-quantify-gains-**internet-has-brought-** consumers-net-benefitshttp://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-gains-internet-has-brought-consumers-net-benefits http://www.economist.com/**blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/**technology-2http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 ______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-lhttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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(sorry, this came off a bit too sharp :) Thanks for all the input, anything is better than nothing of course!)
2013/4/8 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
However, those numbers are not exactly what I'm looking for. I do not want to know what it would be worth as a company, or how much people are willing to pay for it. But how big is the impact? How much positive value does Wikipedia add to the world economy? I hope this number is significantly higher than what people would be willing to donate (although it would give a far low minimum).
2013/4/8 Anders Wennersten mail@anderswennersten.se
In preparation of the strategic planning a few years ago, we at the Audi committee made some calculation to estimate the theoretical potential of donation from different perspectives, like what other NGO got.
We then come to the standpoint that the potential was several times that of 2009-2010 donations. We have now already doubled that amount, and perhaps we are getting closer to the theoretical potential, but this gives the estimate of a potential donation of something between 50-200 MUSD. And the benefit must surely be a few times of the potential donations, So a rough estimate of benefit based on this reasoning would be in the magnitude of 100-500 MUSD/year Anders
Andrew Gray skrev 2013-04-08 14:36:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/**finance-and-economics/** 21573091-how-quantify-gains-**internet-has-brought-** consumers-net-benefitshttp://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-gains-internet-has-brought-consumers-net-benefits http://www.economist.com/**blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/**technology-2http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 ______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-lhttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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Don't worry. Any one who has thought about this sort of thing much has come away more puzzled than when they began. What for example is the "value" of a cigarette? The price is rather easy.
Fred
(sorry, this came off a bit too sharp :) Thanks for all the input, anything is better than nothing of course!)
2013/4/8 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
However, those numbers are not exactly what I'm looking for. I do not want to know what it would be worth as a company, or how much people are willing to pay for it. But how big is the impact? How much positive value does Wikipedia add to the world economy? I hope this number is significantly higher than what people would be willing to donate (although it would give a far low minimum).
2013/4/8 Anders Wennersten mail@anderswennersten.se
In preparation of the strategic planning a few years ago, we at the Audi committee made some calculation to estimate the theoretical potential of donation from different perspectives, like what other NGO got.
We then come to the standpoint that the potential was several times that of 2009-2010 donations. We have now already doubled that amount, and perhaps we are getting closer to the theoretical potential, but this gives the estimate of a potential donation of something between 50-200 MUSD. And the benefit must surely be a few times of the potential donations, So a rough estimate of benefit based on this reasoning would be in the magnitude of 100-500 MUSD/year Anders
Andrew Gray skrev 2013-04-08 14:36:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/**finance-and-economics/** 21573091-how-quantify-gains-**internet-has-brought-** consumers-net-benefitshttp://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-gains-internet-has-brought-consumers-net-benefits http://www.economist.com/**blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/**technology-2http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 ______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-lhttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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Fred Bauder, 08/04/2013 15:38:
Don't worry. Any one who has thought about this sort of thing much has come away more puzzled than when they began. What for example is the "value" of a cigarette? The price is rather easy.
Better example: what is the value of a park, of trees in a city, of a public library, etc. Maybe the question would be "easier" to answer if rephrases as: what's the impact on HDI, on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness (;-) ) or other measures that somehow numerical but not monetary.
Nemo
Le 2013-04-08 16:13, Federico Leva (Nemo) a écrit :
Fred Bauder, 08/04/2013 15:38:
Don't worry. Any one who has thought about this sort of thing much has come away more puzzled than when they began. What for example is the "value" of a cigarette? The price is rather easy.
Better example: what is the value of a park, of trees in a city, of a public library, etc. Maybe the question would be "easier" to answer if rephrases as: what's the impact on HDI, on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness (;-) ) or other measures that somehow numerical but not monetary.
Nemo
I totaly agree.
On the other way, how will react an official political personn with HDI statistics? Do anyone here have real experience of such a statistic in political debate? I mean, if you make a great and serious article but that political instances will take it as a "hippy nonsense" because it doesn't even speak about $, €, ¤…, what the point?
Now if you mean to make such an article for the comunity, definetely go for the "Gross national happiness" and so on way to analyze. :)
Clay Shirky talks about the importance of online collaboration: http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.ht...
On 8 April 2013 07:13, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemowiki@gmail.com wrote:
Fred Bauder, 08/04/2013 15:38:
Don't worry. Any one who has thought about this sort of thing much has
come away more puzzled than when they began. What for example is the "value" of a cigarette? The price is rather easy.
Better example: what is the value of a park, of trees in a city, of a public library, etc. Maybe the question would be "easier" to answer if rephrases as: what's the impact on HDI, on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/* *Gross_national_happinesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness(;-) ) or other measures that somehow numerical but not monetary.
Nemo
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Libraries are indeed a very interesting comparison. There are numerous studies into valuing the economic value of libraries, with varying definitions, including [1] from 2002 estimating the economic value of the British library system and [2] giving an overview of different studies and their methods.
Lodewijk [1]: http://www.librijournal.org/pdf/2002-2pp78-87.pdf [2]: https://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/nlasp/article/viewArticle/1213/...
2013/4/8 Alex Peek alexpeek1@gmail.com
Clay Shirky talks about the importance of online collaboration:
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.ht...
On 8 April 2013 07:13, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemowiki@gmail.com wrote:
Fred Bauder, 08/04/2013 15:38:
Don't worry. Any one who has thought about this sort of thing much has
come away more puzzled than when they began. What for example is the "value" of a cigarette? The price is rather easy.
Better example: what is the value of a park, of trees in a city, of a public library, etc. Maybe the question would be "easier" to answer if rephrases as: what's the impact on HDI, on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/*
*Gross_national_happiness<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness%3E(;-) ) or other measures that somehow numerical but not monetary.
Nemo
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Just measure up the "homework-for-hire market", what Wikipedia had almost ruined; that would be already millions of $ worldwide :)
B.
2013/4/8 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
However, those numbers are not exactly what I'm looking for. I do not want to know what it would be worth as a company, or how much people are willing to pay for it. But how big is the impact? How much positive value does Wikipedia add to the world economy? I hope this number is significantly higher than what people would be willing to donate (although it would give a far low minimum).
2013/4/8 Anders Wennersten mail@anderswennersten.se
In preparation of the strategic planning a few years ago, we at the Audi committee made some calculation to estimate the theoretical potential of donation from different perspectives, like what other NGO got.
We then come to the standpoint that the potential was several times that of 2009-2010 donations. We have now already doubled that amount, and perhaps we are getting closer to the theoretical potential, but this
gives
the estimate of a potential donation of something between 50-200 MUSD.
And
the benefit must surely be a few times of the potential donations, So a rough estimate of benefit based on this reasoning would be in the
magnitude
of 100-500 MUSD/year Anders
Andrew Gray skrev 2013-04-08 14:36:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/**finance-and-economics/** 21573091-how-quantify-gains-**internet-has-brought-** consumers-net-benefits<
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga...
http://www.economist.com/**blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/**technology-2<
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2%3E
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 ______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe:
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On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 5:36 AM, Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk wrote:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga... http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
It's worth keeping in mind that this estimate was based on 2006 data, and that the Economist article commented that "such numbers probably understate things", proceeding to cite different methodologies which give vastly larger estimates for the economic benefit of the Internet (or online search) as a whole - without breaking them down for Wikipedia share, though.
Andrew.
On 8 April 2013 13:28, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
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 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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On 8 April 2013 13:36, Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk wrote:
The Economist had an estimate recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21573091-how-quantify-ga... http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/technology-2
- of approximately $50m "value" to readers. It's a pretty vague
estimate, but it's an interesting start.
That's the value specifically the readers, rather than to the economy in general - it excludes the value to ISPs (who actually get paid for people accessing Wikipedia). As the article explains, it is an estimate of the "consumer surplus" (although it seems to assume there was no consumer surplus in 1999, which won't be true, and understates in various other ways as well, some of which are mentioned in the article).
If we want the value as a whole, we should add on the ISPs profits that can be attributed to Wikipedia. And the profits of their suppliers right the way down the supply chain.
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org