The Transition to the Knowledge Economy in Advanced Capitalist Democracies:  A New Index for Comparative Research

Sebastian Diessner; Niccolo Durazzi; Federico Filetti; David Hope; Hanna Kleider; Simone Tonelli

doi:10.1093/ser/mwaf018

The Transition to the Knowledge Economy in Advanced Capitalist Democracies: A New Index for Comparative Research

Sebastian Diessner, Niccolo Durazzi, Federico Filetti, David Hope, Hanna Kleider, Simone Tonelli

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Abstract

This article sets out to develop a new index capturing advanced capitalist democracies’ transition to the knowledge economy. Reviewing how the notion has evolved in the literature, the article proposes a definition of the knowledge economy based upon two key elements—technology and (high) skills. These are operationalised in six indicators and combined through Bayesian latent variable analysis to produce a new Knowledge Economy Index, covering 22 countries from 1995 to 2019. A descriptive exploration of the index provides important insights for the emerging body of work on the knowledge economy in comparative political economy. The index is the first to provide a comprehensive measure of the knowledge economy that accounts for both technology and skills across space and time. As such, it paves the way for future research examining the causes and consequences of the transition to the knowledge economy in advanced capitalist democracies.

Original language	English
Journal	SOCIO-ECONOMIC REVIEW
Early online date	23 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwaf018
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 23 Mar 2025

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The Transition to the_DIESSNER_Accepted3March2025_GREEN_AAM (CC BY)Accepted author manuscript, 3.6 MBLicence: CC BY

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abstract = "This article sets out to develop a new index capturing advanced capitalist democracies{\textquoteright} transition to the knowledge economy. Reviewing how the notion has evolved in the literature, the article proposes a definition of the knowledge economy based upon two key elements—technology and (high) skills. These are operationalised in six indicators and combined through Bayesian latent variable analysis to produce a new Knowledge Economy Index, covering 22 countries from 1995 to 2019. A descriptive exploration of the index provides important insights for the emerging body of work on the knowledge economy in comparative political economy. The index is the first to provide a comprehensive measure of the knowledge economy that accounts for both technology and skills across space and time. As such, it paves the way for future research examining the causes and consequences of the transition to the knowledge economy in advanced capitalist democracies.",

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AU - Durazzi, Niccolo

AU - Filetti, Federico

AU - Hope, David

AU - Kleider, Hanna

AU - Tonelli, Simone

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AB - This article sets out to develop a new index capturing advanced capitalist democracies’ transition to the knowledge economy. Reviewing how the notion has evolved in the literature, the article proposes a definition of the knowledge economy based upon two key elements—technology and (high) skills. These are operationalised in six indicators and combined through Bayesian latent variable analysis to produce a new Knowledge Economy Index, covering 22 countries from 1995 to 2019. A descriptive exploration of the index provides important insights for the emerging body of work on the knowledge economy in comparative political economy. The index is the first to provide a comprehensive measure of the knowledge economy that accounts for both technology and skills across space and time. As such, it paves the way for future research examining the causes and consequences of the transition to the knowledge economy in advanced capitalist democracies.

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The Transition to the Knowledge Economy in Advanced Capitalist Democracies: A New Index for Comparative Research

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