ABSTRACT
In the last 50 years the economic role of knowledge has emerged and progressively gained a central place in the arena of the economic debate. Knowledge is indeed the primary resource into all human activity. Its identification as an economic good, however, has needed a long time and enduring efforts. The economics of knowledge has gradually emerged as a discipline in a context characterised by a sharp evolution of the analysis as well as of the basic foundations. Such an evolution has made it possible to increase substantially our understanding of the economic characteristics of the generation and use of knowledge in the economic systems. Its evolution is the consequence and the cause of much change in the economic understanding of technological change and more generally in the new thinking about economic growth.
