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

[Andrew Gray]

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/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 at 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
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-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk