The "codification debate" revisited: a conceptual framework to analyze the role of tacit knowledge in economics

In the last years, a “codification debate” has developed among economists concerning the meaning and the empirical relevance of “tacit knowledge”. As this debate seems to have reached an impasse, we suggest a solution to take it a step further, based on a more precise definition of “tacit knowledge” and a clear conceptualization of codification . Moreover, as different types of tacit knowledge can be characterized, we also proceed to demonstrate that the issue of codifiability cannot be adequately addressed without accounting for these differences.