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In searching for relevant literatures to review, a relatively wide metaphoric net is cast, looking for background, insight and inspiration well beyond the knowledge management field. Indeed, much of the research to measure knowledge has been conducted by economists (e.g., Hayek, 1937; Machlup, 1962; Glazer, 1998; Edvinsson, 2002), who have understood the power and prominence of knowledge as an economic resource for a long time. Shifting to Strategy, the techniques that center on the Balanced Scorecard (e.g., Bose & Thomas, 2007; Wake, 2015) are found, along with those enabling the knowledge based firm that competes on knowledge (Kogut & Zander, 1992; 1993).
Shifting again, a number of researchers look to the education context for measurement techniques, including academic tacit knowledge (Insch, McIntyre & Dawley, 2008), student knowledge retention (Bacon & Stewart, 2006), self-confidence in one’s answers (Hunt, 2003), and outcomes of student learning, among other measures of the global knowledge economy (Marginson, 2009).
Additionally, numerous works are found that use patent citation as a proxy for knowledge flow (Ye, Zhang, Liu & Su, 2015; Chavez & Viquez, 2015; Duguet & MacGarvie, 2005), even though such method is notably circumspect (Roach & Cohen, 2013), and a number of researchers offer the familiar learning curve as a measurement tool (Epple, Argote, & Devadas, 1991; Ingram & Simons, 2002), augmented by the employment of vectors in knowledge flow analysis (Sultanow, Cox, Brockmann & Gronau, 2014).