Information for Innovation

Information is not taken seriously. Much is said about the information age, the information economy, the information society, and particularly about information technology, but little about information itself. If these are important, then so is information. But information is not as other goods: it has some peculiar characteristics. It cannot be displayed for sale without giving it away in the process. Sold, it goes to the buyer but still remains with the seller. Buying entails expressing demand in ignorance for buyers who do not know just what it is that they do not know. Such characteristics have long been recognised by economists, but it is not generally economists who have most to say about the importance of information. This privilege is exercised by senior managers, who speak passionately about knowledge-based, learning organizations; by politicians and public servants, anxious to compensate with policy and programme for the information failure of organization and market; and by specialists in telecommunications and information technology, bent on adding value to what they treat as just a commodity. Information usually requires new information. Finding, acquiring, and mixing

Information for Innovation is a delight to read. The author attacks the subject with the intellectual incisiveness for which he is renowned. It will intrigue and challenge a diverse readership, Information for Innovation, by MacDonald is an interesting book, providing a fresh new perspective on a topic of particular interest to economies possessing ever more increasing knowledge intensive production processes. It is illustrated by a very broad and diverse range of examples, that demonstrate the general applicability of the chosen approach. Marcus Hagermeister, Information Economics and Policy, 2000

Co-editor of the journal Prometheus (Carfax)1977-87 Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Department of Economics, University of Queensland