Unpacking the Valuation of Data in the Data-Driven Economy

Abstract

Data is often said to be the most valuable commodity of our age. It is a curiosity, therefore, that it remains largely invisible on the balance sheets of companies and largely unmeasured in our national economic accounts. This note seeks to unpack what we mean when we refer to data as the “new oil” or the essential capital of the data-driven economy, how it differs from information in general, how it is transformed into value, and what might be the approximate scale of the value of data in a modern data-driven economy.

Keywords: big data, data-driven economy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, information asymmetry, business process optimization, superstar firms, market valuation

JEL Classification: L16