PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
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Authors:
• Călin VÂLSAN, email: cvalsan@ubishops.ca, Afiliation: Williams School of Business, Bishop's University Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada -
Keywords: Human capital, property rights, public goods, positive sum games, economic surplus
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Abstract:
This paper outlines several important changes in our economic model brought about by the emergence of the knowledge economy. Until now, property rights have acquired a solid track record for being the most reliable and efficient societal device for coping with economic uncertainty. In the industrial age, property rights have made the separation between ownership and control tenable and have generated the now ubiquitous archetype of economic organization represented by the public corporation. In the knowledge economy, the most important factor of production is human capital, meaning that the importance of property rights is greatly diminished, as one cannot separate ownership from control without interfering with the right of self ownership.