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

[Fred Bauder]

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 at 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 at 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-gains-internet-has-brought-consumers-net-benefits>
>>>> http://www.economist.com/**blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/**technology-2<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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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>
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