Knowledge for Development

The report opens with this statement:

"This year's World Development Report examines the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well-being. It begins with the realisation that economies are built not merely through the accumulation of physical capital and human skill, but on the foundation of information, learning and adaptation. Because knowledge matters, understanding how people and societies acquire and use knowledge - and why they sometimes fail to do so - is essential to improving people's lives, especially the lives of the poorest."

The report considers two sorts of knowledge - technical knowledge (for example, about engineering, health, farming or accounting) and knowledge attributes ("the quality of a product, the credibility about attributes, industry trends, knowledge about a borrower or a worker"). Knowledge gaps is what the Report calls "unequal distribution of technical know-how" and "the uneven knowledge about attributes - information problems." The argument is that both types of problems are acute in developing countries than in the developed countries and it is usually the poor that suffer most.

James D. Wolfensohm, the then President of the World Bank in the foreword to the Report says this:

"Problems with knowledge will persist. We cannot eliminate knowledge gaps and information failures, but by recognising that knowledge is at the core of all our development efforts, we will sometimes discover unexpected solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Putting knowledge at the centre of our development efforts will bear fruit in two areas. The first is the increased social benefits - the more effective provision of public goods, including better air and water quality, greater educational attainment and higher enrolments, improved health and nutrition, and expanded access to essential infrastructure. The second is in better-functioning markets - for credit, education, housing, and land - that more efficiently co-ordinate resources and allocate opportunities across society." (World Development Report, 1998/99).

Alfred Marshall the great economist of the early 20th Century had this to say:

"Capital consists in a great part of knowledge and organisation. Knowledge is our most powerful engine of production. It enables us to subdue Nature and force her to satisfy our wants. Knowledge leads to economic growth which should ensure that all should start in the world with a fair chance of leading a cultural life, free from the pains of poverty and the stagnating influences of mechanical toil." (Alfred Marshall, 1920, p115).

The fact that poverty exists the world over is a tacit indication of the unequal distribution of knowledge and at national levels this is evident between the countries of the North and those of the South. Knowledge affects every economic transaction. Lack of it can cause market failures and untold economic disasters.

Information for Developers