ZNACZENIE WIEDZY DLA GOSPODARKI W UJĘCIU MAKRO- I MIKROEKONOMICZNYM

Abstract

The article deals with importance of knowledge for single enterprise and for the whole economy. In the 50s of the last century Solow and Swan created the first macroeconomic model which indicated that the economic growth depends on the pace at which the amount of knowledge increases. It turned out to be a real challenge for economists to measure the amount of knowledge (or the technological advancement) because there are many ratios and quantities which indirectly indicate the level of technological advancement (such as the number of research articles, number of PhD degrees or number of University graduates). Currently the economies of well-developed countries are commonly referred to as knowledge-based economies, nevertheless, one accepted indicator which would evaluate the level of development of such economy has not been found. When it comes to single enterprises, there is a tendency to treat knowledge as a resource in the same sense as capital and a lot has been said about the need of effective knowledge management. Intellectual capital, which can contribute to the market value of the enterprise, appears to be a new element of the company's assets. The currents article presents a review on the issue of knowledge-based economy (a macroeconomic context) as well as it discusses a number of methods which aim to measure intellectual capital (a microeconomic context).