Abstract
The information sector, delineated as encompassing activities associated with the production and dissemination of information goods and services, is recognised as a dynamic growth sector in developed as well as newly-industrialising countries. Using an input-output methodology, this paper attempts to measure the magnitude and assess the economic impact of the information sector in Singapore. The results are found to be favourable although a number of caveats may be raised regarding its apparent import dependency and foreign exchange earning capability, which has turned from positive to negative over the ten-year period 1973–83. Other issues are also raised concerning the institutional framework, both domestic and international, necessary to support the sector both efficiently and flexibly. Policy implications are drawn from the results of the input-output analysis to consolidate and reinforce current policies to promote information technology in Singapore.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ArrowKenneth (1980), ‘Economics of information’, in DertouzosM.L. and MosesJoel (eds.), The Computer Age: A Twenty-Year View, Cambridge: Massachussetts Institute of Technology Press.
BellDaniel (1974), The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Accounting, London: Heinemann.
BellDaniel (1980), ‘The social framework of the information society’, in DertouzosM.L. and MosesJoel (eds.), The Computer Age: A Twenty-Year View, Cambridge: Massachussets Institute of Technology Press.
Blumenthal, W.M. (1988), ‘The world economy and technological change’, Foreign Affairs 66, No. 3.
ChannonD.F. (1978), The Service Industries: Strategy, Structure and Financial Performance, London: Macmillan.
DertouzosM.L. and MosesJoel (eds.) (1980), The Computer Age: A Twenty-Year View, Cambridge: Massachussetts Institute of Technology Press.
FergusonMarjorie (ed.). (1986), New Communication Technologies and the Public Interest: Comparative Perspectives on Policy and Research, London: Sage Publications.
Feketekuty, G. and Aronson, J.D. (1984), ‘Meeting the challenges of the world information economy’, in The World Economy 1, No. 1.
GershunyJ.I. and MilesI.D. (1983), The New Service Economy: The Transformation of Employment in Industrial Societies, London: Frances Pinter Publishers.
GiariniOrio (ed). (1987), The Emerging Service Economy, Oxford: Pergamon Press.
JussawallaMeheroo and LambertonD.M. (eds.). (1982), Communication Economics and Development, Honolulu: East-West Centre.
JussawallaMeheroo and EbenfieldH. (eds.). (1984), Communication and Information Economics, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Jussawalla, Meheroo and Cheah Chee Wah (1983), ‘Towards an information economy: the case of Singapore’, Information Economics and Policy, 1.
JussawallaMeheroo and CheahChee Wah (1987), The Calculus of International Communications: A Study in the Political Economy of Transborder Data Flows, Littledon, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited Inc.
Karunaratne, N.D. (1983), ‘The information economy and a methodology for its identification’, unpublished paper based on East-West Center, University of Queensland Project, June.
Karunaratne, N.D. (1986a), ‘An input-output approach to the measurement of the information economy’, Economics of Planning 20, No. 2.
Karunaratne, N.D. (1986b), ‘Analytics of information and empirics of the information economy’, The Information Society 4, No. 4.
Karunaratne, N.D. and Cameron, A. (1981), ‘A comparative analysis of the “Information economy” in developed and developing countries’, Journal of Information Science Principles and Practice 3, No. 3.
LeesonKenneth W. (1984), International Communications: Blueprint for Policy, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
MachlupFritz (1962), The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
MilesI.D. and GershunyJ.I. (1986), ‘The social economics of information technology’, in FergusonMarjorie (ed.), New Communication Technologies and the Public Interest: Comparative Perspectives on Policy and Research, London: Sage Publications.
OettingerA.G. and BermanP.J. (1975), ‘The medium and the telephone: the politics of information resources’, Working Paper 75-8, December 15, Harvard Program on Information Technologies and Public Policy, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Porat, Marc (1976), ‘The information economy’, unpublished PhD. thesis, Stanford University.
PoratMarc, (1977), ‘The information economy’, vol. 1, Washington DC: United States Department of Commerce, Office of Telecommunications.
Quinn, J.B., Baruch, J.J. and Paquette, P.C. (1987), ‘Technology in services’, Scientific America 257, No. 6.
RadaJuan F. (1987), ‘Information technology and services’, in GiariniOrio (ed.), The Emerging Service Economy, Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Singapore, Development Bank of Singapore (1987), ‘Information technology in Singapore’, Singapore Briefing No. 4.
Singapore, Department of Statistics (1978), Singapore Input-Output Tables 1973, Singapore: Singapore National Printers.
Singapore, Department of Statistics (1983). Singapore Input-Output Tables 1978, Singapore: Singapore National Printers.
Singapore, Department of Statistics (1987), Singapore Input-Output Tables 1983. Singapore: Singapore National Printers
StanbackT.M. et al. (1981), Services: The New Economy, New Jersey: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heng, T.M., Low, L. The economic impact of the information sector in Singapore. Econ Plann 23, 51–70 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00418970
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00418970