ABSTRACT
Machlup’s 1 study of information in economic activity identified a tendency among decision-makers to accommodate themselves to information deficiency, whenever the cost of additional information proved prohibitive, by adapting to the uncertainty. He thus argued for an alternative conceptual framework for pursuing Pareto optimality under a new science. Defining science as knowledge acquired by sustained effort, Machlup 2 saw the new science as advancing the frontiers of information and knowledge, combating ignorance, error, risk and uncertainty, and, therefore, advancing autonomous decision-making. Information science is one such discipline. It offers an appropriate framework because it is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. Its lack of a homogeneous set of tacit and shared paradigms 3 permits the importation of ideas from other disciplines.
