| Though many economists and social scientists agree that knowledge is important and that the study of its influences upon the society and economy should be emphasized, only limited research has been done on impact of knowledge on the economy. The results derived from various studies tell us that the trend of shifting from a traditional industrial-based economy to a knowledge-based economy is inevitable. Hence, my main research questions are: what the relevance of knowledge capital is and what its economic implications are to our society, and can a significant relationship between economic growth and knowledge capital investment can be found?; In the theoretical part of my dissertation I establish an overlapping generation model to capture the accumulation and transfer of knowledge capital. The model is intuitive; nonetheless, it suggests several important socio-economic phenomena. Furthermore, I believe that this model can be applied towards understanding the technological research and development investment behavior of business organizations. The results of my model should provide better insight for academia and businesses for further research in the field of knowledge economics.; In the empirical study part of my dissertation I find that there is a general decline in the awards of science and engineering degree at the university level over the recent decades in the United States. Meanwhile the enrollment rate in S&E displays a ten year cyclical pattern. This pattern may predict future trends in U.S. higher education and the corresponding changes in the economic structure. In addition, I find that R&D spending has a positive correlation with GDP growth. The statistical data further indicates that when the economy grows, more people would pursue graduate level degrees, and more Master's and Ph.D. level graduates and R&D investment in the economy help GDP growth. What this could suggests is that there is a higher demand for well-trained and highly-educated 'knowledge workers' in a highly developed economy. Consequently, increase supply of 'knowledge workers' in the total labor force would push the economy away from a traditional industrial and labor-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. |
