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An Exploration of Wikipedia Data as a Measure of Regional Knowledge Distribution

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  • Stephany, Fabian
  • Braesemann, Fabian

Abstract

In today’s economies, knowledge is the key ingredient for prosperity. However, it is hard to measure this intangible asset appropriately. Standard economic models mostly rely on common measures such as enrollment rates and international test scores. However, these proxies focus rather on the quality of education of pupils than on the distribution of knowledge among the whole population, which is increasingly defined by alternative sources of education such as online learning platforms. As a consequence, the economically relevant stock of knowledge in a region is only roughly approximated. Furthermore, they are abstract in content, and both capital-, and time-consuming in census. This paper proposes to explore Wikipedia data as an alternative source of capturing the knowledge distribution on a narrow geographical scale. Wikipedia is by far the largest digital encyclopedia worldwide and provides data on usage and editing publicly. We com- pare Wikipedia usage worldwide and edits in the U. S. to existing measures of the acquisition and stock of knowledge. The results indicate that there is a significant correlation between Wikipedia interactions and knowledge approximations on different geographical scales. Considering these results, it seems promising to further explore Wikipedia data to develop a reliable, inexpensive, and real-time proxy of knowledge distribution around the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephany, Fabian & Braesemann, Fabian, 2017. "An Exploration of Wikipedia Data as a Measure of Regional Knowledge Distribution," SocArXiv c2gd8, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:c2gd8
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/c2gd8
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    1. Mark Graham & Ralph K. Straumann & Bernie Hogan, 2015. "Digital Divisions of Labor and Informational Magnetism: Mapping Participation in Wikipedia," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 105(6), pages 1158-1178, November.
    2. Mark Graham & Bernie Hogan & Ralph K. Straumann & Ahmed Medhat, 2014. "Uneven Geographies of User-Generated Information: Patterns of Increasing Informational Poverty," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 104(4), pages 746-764, July.
    3. Benos, Nikos & Zotou, Stefania, 2014. "Education and Economic Growth: A Meta-Regression Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 669-689.
    4. Young-Ho Eom & Pablo Aragón & David Laniado & Andreas Kaltenbrunner & Sebastiano Vigna & Dima L Shepelyansky, 2015. "Interactions of Cultures and Top People of Wikipedia from Ranking of 24 Language Editions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-27, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephany, Fabian, 2020. "There is Not One But Many AI: A Network Perspective on Regional Demand in AI Skills," OSF Preprints 32qws, Center for Open Science.
    2. Stephany, Fabian, 2019. "Whose Realm, His Trust - Regional Disparities of Generalized Trust in Europe," SocArXiv 7f5pk, Center for Open Science.
    3. Stephany, Fabian & Braesemann, Fabian & Graham, Mark, 2019. "Coding Together - Coding Alone: The Role of Trust in Collaborative Programming," SocArXiv 8rf2h, Center for Open Science.
    4. Fabian Braesemann & Fabian Stephany, 2021. "Between Bonds and Bridges: Evidence from a Survey on Trust in Groups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 111-128, January.
    5. Lorenz, Hanno & Stephany, Fabian, 2018. "Back to the future: Changing job profiles in the digital age," Working Papers 13, Agenda Austria.
    6. Darius, Philipp & Stephany, Fabian, 2019. "Twitter "Hashjacked": Online Polarisation Strategies of Germany's Political Far-Right," SocArXiv 6gbc9, Center for Open Science.
    7. Niklas Stoehr & Fabian Braesemann & Michael Frommelt & Shi Zhou, 2019. "Mining the Automotive Industry: A Network Analysis of Corporate Positioning and Technological Trends," Papers 1912.10097, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2020.
    8. Braesemann, Fabian & Stephany, Fabian, 2019. "United in Diversity? An Empirical Investigation on Europe's Regional Social Capital," SocArXiv esgra, Center for Open Science.
    9. Stephany, Fabian, 2020. "It's Not Only Size That Matters: Trust and E-Government Success in Europe," SocArXiv cqfhr, Center for Open Science.
    10. Stephany, Fabian, 2019. "How Unique is "E-stonia"? A Cross-Country Comparison of E-Services Usage in Europe," SocArXiv y4z73, Center for Open Science.
    11. Braesemann, Fabian & Stephany, Fabian, 2020. "Measuring Digital Development with Online Data: Digital Economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," SocArXiv f9jqh, Center for Open Science.

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