Issues in Measuring the Information Economy

This article presents a set of techniques to measure and analyse the structure of the information economy of a country using input‐output methods. Published national data bases for many countries fail to identify the information economy and the focus has been on the measurement of conventional sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and services. However, it is now widely recognised that the information sector is emerging as a major force in the restructuring and growth of many economies in the world. The measurement and analysis of this information economy is invaluable for proper policy formulation in this information age. The article demonstrates the operational nature of the techniques proposed herein, by their application to Australia and a few developing economies in the Pacific.