Unlocking investment in intangible assets

Intangible assets are at the heart of what makes firms competitive. They are vital for productivity and economic growth. A key question is whether the factors that tend to hold back investments in Europe are the same for tangible and intangible assets, i.e. is there a need for specific policy measures addressing intangible assets? This paper provides contextual information concerning intangible assets by discussing conceptual aspects, illustrating recent trends in terms of investments in intangibles and their corresponding impact on productivity and gross value added (GVA) growth. With a view at specific characteristics of intangibles, potential drivers and barriers to investments in intangibles are identified and tested. Evidence from the presented empirical analyses suggests that including intangibles in a source-of growth framework changes the corresponding growth patterns (GVA tends to grow more rapidly and capital deepening becomes the dominant source of growth). Looking at intangibles also helps to improve the understanding of TFP differentials. As regards investments, structural factors tend to matter generally more for intangibles whereas cyclical factors matter more for tangible assets. Against this backdrop, a series of policy-relevant messages has been derived. Overall, however, there is need to enlarge the general understanding of knowledge creation and to further improve the measurement of intangible assets in order to allow sound and evidence-based policy support.