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

Fred Bauder fredbaud at fairpoint.net
Mon Apr 8 13:38:03 UTC 2013


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
>>>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list
>>>>> Wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.**org <Wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
>>>>> Unsubscribe:
>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list
>>> Wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.**org <Wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
>>> Unsubscribe:
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l>
>>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list
> Wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
>





More information about the Wikimedia-l mailing list