The Emergence of the Knowledge Economy and the Changing Role of Translators as Knowledge Brokers: A Case of the Sharing Economy in China

Before the 1970s, gross national product or gross domestic product was used to measure national development, but this indicator has been criticized for over-emphasizing material wealth. This paper begins by discussing the ‘quality of life’ and ‘human capability’ concepts, which may provide a broader view of development. Endogenous-Growth Theory of knowledge and innovation is then introduced, offering an alternative to the classical economic models of development such as the Stages-of-Economic-Growth Model and the Exogenous-Growth Model. The aim is to explain the role played by sharing, reusing and expanding knowledge through communication and mobile technology in the sharing economy. In particular, the introduction of Uber into China is used as a case study to illustrate that, in future, translators (and translator trainers) may need to focus more on mediating between sources of knowledge and users of knowledge as well as building links between different stakeholders.