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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between knowledge-enhancing HR practices, intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage in knowledge-based firms.

A quantitative approach was used to conduct the present study. The respondents were sampled from knowledge-based firms in Iran. Overall, 320 managers in 157 firms were selected using convenience sampling. A structural equation model was employed for testing the hypotheses.

The study confirmed that knowledge-enhancing human resource (HR) practices established a very strong connection with intellectual capital. The results further disclosed a positive relationship between intellectual capital and firms' competitive advantage. A mediated relationship between knowledge-enhancing HR practices and firms' competitive advantage through intellectual capital was also affirmed.

The study was conducted in knowledge-based firms in Iran, which limits the generalizability of the research findings. Therefore, future studies should be carried out with samples from other contexts. Moreover, as the study was cross-sectional, the causal relationships could not be inferred directly.

The paper underscored the importance of intellectual capital in improving knowledge-enhancing HR practices and firms' competitive advantage. It suggests to human resource managers to make the organizational arrangements to design knowledge-enhancing HR practices, thereby developing the intellectual capital that brings competitive advantage to knowledge-based firms.

The results of this study contribute to advance research on the intellectual capital literature by trying to explain how intellectual capital as a mediator variable can influence the relationship between knowledge-enhancing HR practices and sustainable competitive advantage.

The purpose of this article is to provide organized, synthesized information related to initiatives throughout the world based on knowledge‐based development (KBD) such as knowledge cities (KCs), knowledge regions, and knowledge countries. A first search was conducted using the Internet and specialized databases under the keywords “knowledge cities”. The information compiled led to other related keywords which branched out the search. All resulting information was then collated and integrated into a number of categories all unified under the field of knowledge‐based development. A compilation of information on the topic “knowledge cities” and other topics related to knowledge‐based development. The information is presented in eight sections: a glossary of KC‐related terms, a list of knowledge‐based development initiatives, a list of associations and organizations related to the topic, a list of urban KBD‐related value dimensions and their indicators, a list of international rankings, a list of special editions on KCs, a bibliography, and a directory of related sites on the Internet. This effort resulted in a public service available at the World Wide Web. The information included in this compilation is limited mainly to public domain information available throughout Internet in both English and Spanish, as well as in selected databases.

In the context of today's knowledge economy, development policies that are mainly based on knowledge as a primary source of wealth and added‐value are increasingly adopted by cities and countries. This tendency is becoming much more common due to the global financial crisis. Thus, the knowledge‐based development field has been in a state of important progress during the last decade. This paper seeks to discuss and highlight the major issues of knowledge‐based development. By doing so the paper aims to present an agenda for future research directions for the present decade of 2010‐2020.

The paper presents an agenda for future research by co‐instantaneously presenting the status in relation to the major pending issues of the knowledge‐based development field. This is accomplished through a wide‐scope literature review and qualitative scoring of knowledge‐based development (KBD) categories.

The main finding is that research is needed in four main directions: development of holistic and unified approaches for the practical formulation of citizen‐centric knowledge‐based development strategies; knowledge‐based urban planning; knowledge‐based development assessment and metrics; practical aspects of implementation of knowledge‐based development approaches.

Research in the paper is based on a wide literature review of the most important and added‐value available resources in the KBD field and in qualitative scoring of research categories. Use of empirical components such as citation analysis, field surveys, knowledge network analysis as well as for a specific approach regarding the scoring system would be needed in future research.

The discussion and issues presented in the paper should be of value not only to researchers and practitioners but also to cities and countries willing to design efficient and effective knowledge‐based development strategies.

The purpose of this study is to look at the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE's) progress toward economic diversification and becoming a knowledge-based economy.

The World Development Indicators (WDI) and GlobalEconomy websites provided all secondary data for this paper. The data are largely used to highlight the UAE's current level of diversification and, consequently, the atmosphere for a knowledge economy transition necessary for sustainable development. Additionally, the study conducts a nonparametric estimation using DEA to identify the condition of four variables pertaining to the UAE's knowledge economy. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) was utilized empirically in this study to determine the current state of diversity.

According to this research, the UAE economy was reasonably diverse until recently. The number of patents and journal papers published per resident both add to the UAE's GDP. Furthermore, the UAE's information and communication technology (ICT) exports are inconsistent; a declining trend in the number of researchers and the education sector's continuous struggles are major concerns. Furthermore, Figure 1 in the introduction reinforces this conclusion by noting that construction and building remained the greatest employer of labor throughout the time period. This is a significant finding because, as illustrated in this research, low labor force participation in the education sector, combined with lower citizen participation in advanced education in the UAE, results in low scientific research and publications, with low knowledge output as patent applications. In general, the majority of the UAE's population is expat, and the extent to which locals and expats contribute to the overall advancement of education remains an open question. According to the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, three variables in the knowledge economy are productive, and they are economic incentive and institutional regime, innovation systems and ICT. The findings of this article will aid policymakers in the UAE, and more generally in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, in developing more successful policies that help in the growth of a knowledge- and innovation-based economy.

This study is appropriate for UAE economic policymakers to monitor the state and policies required for the UAE's transition to a knowledge economy.

This issue has rarely been addressed by the use of robust parametric and nonparametric processes, as well as robust data visualization tools.

Current financial accounting and reporting systems provide too little information on the kinds of intellectual assets that would appear to be important in a knowledge economy. But there has been little progress in changing financial information, or improving non‐financial information. Government could play a role in guiding reporting of new information that would allow investors to make better informed decisions.

Despite several years of hearty media and academic interest, for most people “knowledge management” still remains an ill‐defined and woolly concept. The problem may be that knowledge management proponents have usually focused on either the minutiae of implementation ‐ intranets and data mining techniques ‐ or worse, on abstract theories such as the value of trust in a knowledge sharing culture. This article contends that it is only really possible to appreciate the concrete importance of knowledge management in the workplace if the subject is seen in a much broader context ‐ as causally related to the enormous changes taking place in the global economic framework itself. These more fundamental changes to the economic environment are what are driving organizations toward adopting the sophisticated new set of policies and practices known as “knowledge management”. In short, there is a broad “knowledge‐based revolution” taking place, and it comes in a matching set: the knowledge‐based economy for nations, and knowledge management for organizations themselves.

The purpose of this paper is to explain bio-economy dimensions as a new stream of knowledge-based economy that exists in the new era of the information and communications technology.

Bio-economy refers to the production of a wide range of goods and services from plant, animal and forest-based material. It is more than just grain-based bio-fuels or bio-diesel as extensively highlighted in Latin America. It is related to biotechnology and other bio-activities based on knowledge generated from the bio-activities and extension of the knowledge-based economy.

The main concern of developing bio-economy is the environmental damage caused through the undesirable output produced by the bio-economy activities. Bio-economy is centred on research and development (R&D) collaborations across different sectors, including the public and private sectors, in order to breakthrough new products through invention and innovation.

For bio-economy to be realised and put into practice, it should have a well-developed regulatory framework as a platform in order to run and work smoothly.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the way in which the knowledge competitiveness of regions is measured and further introduces the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index (WKCI) benchmarking tool.

The methodology consists of an econometric analysis of key indicators relating to the concept of knowledge competitiveness for 125 regions from across the globe consisting of 55 representatives from North America, 45 from Europe and 25 from Asia and Oceania.

The key to winning the super competitive race in the knowledge‐based economy is investment in the future: research and development, and education and training. It is found that the majority of the high‐performing regional economies in the USA have a knowledge competitive edge over their counterparts in Europe and Asia.

To an extent, the research is limited by the availability of comparable indicators and metrics at the regional level that extend across the globe. Whilst comparative data are often accessible at the national level, regional data sources remain underdeveloped.

The WKCI has become internationally recognized as an important instrument for economic development policymakers and regional investment promotion agents as they create and refine their strategies and targets. In particular, it has provided a benchmark that allows regions to compare their knowledge competitiveness with other regions for around the world and not only their own nation or continent.

The WKCI is the first composite and relative measure of the knowledge competitiveness of the globe's best performing regions.

Higher education institutions, particularly in developing countries, are striving for superior innovation performance to cope with the challenges of contemporary educational environment. Drawing on the knowledge management capability model and knowledge-based view of firms, this study aims to determine the impact of knowledge management enablers, namely, top management knowledge value, knowledge-oriented culture and knowledge-based rewards, on innovation speed and quality and assessing the mediating role of knowledge sharing process.

Data are collected from 234 academics of higher education institutions in Pakistan and analyzed through the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique.

The results indicate that top management knowledge value and knowledge-based rewards have a positive effect on innovation speed and quality. Although knowledge-oriented culture also contributes to innovation quality, it does not influence the innovation speed. Moreover, the knowledge sharing process mediates the effect of all these knowledge management enablers on innovation speed and quality.

This study underscores the importance of three key knowledge management enablers in higher education institutions. The findings of this study suggest that signaling knowledge value from the top management, fostering knowledge-oriented culture and enacting a knowledge-based reward system are critical in facilitating knowledge sharing process and enhancing innovation speed and quality in higher education institutions.

This is among one of the earlier studies that investigates the influence of top management knowledge value, knowledge-oriented culture and knowledge-based rewards on innovation speed and quality, particularly in higher education institutions, and determines the mediating role of the knowledge sharing process.