Old and New Asset Boundaries: A Review Article on Measuring Capital in the New Economy

In modern economies, technical change is rapid and competitive edges of companies are closely related to 'intangible' capital. While some intangibles are covered by established capital measures in the national accounts, many are outside the measurement boundary. The NBER volume at hand brings together the most up-to-date empricial and conceptual work that aims at measuring intangibles comprehensively. The different articles show that there is neither a single definition nor a single method to measure intangibles. This is not surprising given the very nature of these assets. The many challenges for measurement also mean that more work needs to be done before considering a broad set of intangibles assets for recognition in the national accounts. This reduces in no way the value of current and future research on the issue and the NBER volume constitutes an excellent reference for analysts and national accountants.