The Economics of Knowledge : The Debate About Codification and Tacit Knowledge

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the complex relationships between codified and tacit knowledge. This supposes a first step is to distinguish clearly the notion of knowledge from the notion of information. A model of knowledge as a structure is then proposed from which an analysis of the content, significance and implications of the tacit dimension of knowledge can be derived. The paper emphasizes the importance of the context, the modes of conversion of knowledge and the role of knowing communities when analysing the relationships between tacit and codified knowledge