The information economy: the history of a concept through its measurement, 1949–2005

The information economy is one of the key concepts invented to explain structural changes in the modern economy. It has given rise to theories on society, conceptual frameworks for policy, and statistics for measurement. This paper analyzes the history of the concept of information and its role in public discourses about the economy and society through the lens of statistics. It argues that the preoccupation with the growth and management of scientific publications was the very first step toward the construction of the concept of the information economy. Over history, the concept evolved from an understanding of information as knowledge, to information as commodity, or industrial activity, then information as technology. An international organization, the OECD, is discussed as emblematic of the conceptual and statistical work conducted on information over the period 1949–2005.