International production and dissemination of information: Results, methodological issues, and statistical perspectives

In recent years, several projects have attempted to quantify the information on various media. This research is original but subject to numerous methodological problems (concerning originals, copies, value, etc.) and it raises more general accounting and statistical questions (about satellite accounts and statistical systems) from the point of view of the organization of knowledge. The objective of this article is twofold. First, after summarizing our own estimates, we comment on the main methodological concerns these works raise. Second, we draw more general conclusions about redefining an accounting framework and a statistical system based on comparable international standards.