ABSTRACT
The examination of the changing economic role of knowledge in the last chapter raises a wide range of questions. Many of these questions, which are highly relevant to an understanding of economic change as well as to the formulation of effective economic and social policies, center upon the changing conditions of knowledge production and the manner in which this knowledge is utilized. From an economic point of view, perhaps the most striking peculiarity of knowledge production is that it is not possible to establish the nature of its production function. Any legal restrictions on utilization therefore deprive some members of society of a cost-less benefit, and in this sense constitute a violation of the conditions of “Pareto optimality.” The increasing socialization of knowledge production also raises serious questions concerning the adequacy of the legal and institutional framework of business enterprise.
