In the knowledge economy, the value of corporations is directly related to their knowledge and intellectual capital. But broaden the perspective a little wider and you begin to see the possibilities: Think of cities, regions, even entire nations, in addition to the public sector. If intangibles and intellectual capital are important to the private sector, they are also important to the productivity and competitiveness of the public sector, and so to communities and nations as a whole. In this book, Editors Ahmed Bounfour and Leif Edivinsson have brought together the best minds in intellectual capital throughout the world to focus on a new and fertile area of research: measuring and managing the intellectual capital of communities. This is a creative and cutting-edge area of research that has the potential to change how public sector planning and development is done. Once there is a clear way to identify where wealth is created in a given region/nation, this process has the potential to reveal a huge knowledge repository in the public sector with a significant-but idle-potential for collective wealth creation-the wealth of nations in waiting.
"Bounfour and Edvinsson's extension of the burgeoning intellectual capital literature to communities/regions/nations is timely and very rewarding." (Baruch Lev, Philip Bardes Professor of Accounting and Finance, New York University)
"The study of intellectual capital has become a field of research in itself. It used to be restricted to the business sector: Thanks to the series of studies coordinated by Bounfour and Edvinsson, it covers now communities and public institutions. It was a necessary step, as knowledge is a public good, and that step gives rise to invaluable new insights." (Dominique Guellec, Chief economist, European Patent Office)
"With assets of many firms being primarily intangibles knowledge companies the question arises whether regions and nations are successfully pursuing similar paths. The authors have rewardingly set out to find answers on how intellectual capital is created in geographic entities and how it can be measured." (Jon Sigurdson, Professor (Research Policy)/Stockholm School of Economics)
"In the 20th century, industrial society achieved remarkable growth through the dissemination of an "integrated circuit", abbreviated to IC in every corner of industry. This book suggests that the knowledge-based society in the 21st century will be enriched through the spread of another IC, that is, "intellectual capital" in every corner of the society." (Teruyasu Murakami, Chief Counselor, Nomura Research Institute)
"This book is a welcome and timely overview of a new and vibrant IC frontier. IC started with a corporate focus but much of the exciting work is now being made in and for the public sector as well as on governmental and national levels. The articles are more than the usual boring collection of re-written old papers; they are fresh and topical. This is required reading!" (Karl-Erik Sveiby, Professor at Swedish School of Economics and Business Admininistration, Helsinki, Finland)
"The study of intellectual capital has become a field of research in itself. It used to be restricted to the business sector: Thanks to the series of studies coordinated by Bounfour and Edvinsson, it covers now communities and public institutions. It was a necessary step, as knowledge is a public good, and that step gives rise to invaluable new insights." (Dominique Guellec, Chief economist, European Patent Office)
"With assets of many firms being primarily intangibles knowledge companies the question arises whether regions and nations are successfully pursuing similar paths. The authors have rewardingly set out to find answers on how intellectual capital is created in geographic entities and how it can be measured." (Jon Sigurdson, Professor (Research Policy)/Stockholm School of Economics)
"In the 20th century, industrial society achieved remarkable growth through the dissemination of an "integrated circuit", abbreviated to IC in every corner of industry. This book suggests that the knowledge-based society in the 21st century will be enriched through the spread of another IC, that is, "intellectual capital" in every corner of the society." (Teruyasu Murakami, Chief Counselor, Nomura Research Institute)
"This book is a welcome and timely overview of a new and vibrant IC frontier. IC started with a corporate focus but much of the exciting work is now being made in and for the public sector as well as on governmental and national levels. The articles are more than the usual boring collection of re-written old papers; they are fresh and topical. This is required reading!" (Karl-Erik Sveiby, Professor at Swedish School of Economics and Business Admininistration, Helsinki, Finland)