ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Intangibles: How Far We Have Come and The Road Ahead
Daniel E. Sichel,
Corresponding Author
Daniel E. Sichel
Wellesley College and NBER
Correspondence to: Daniel E. Sichel, Wellesley College and NBER, Wellesley, MA, USA ([email protected]).
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel E. Sichel,
Corresponding Author
Daniel E. Sichel
Wellesley College and NBER
Correspondence to: Daniel E. Sichel, Wellesley College and NBER, Wellesley, MA, USA ([email protected]).
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 07 July 2024
Abstract
Investment in intangible assets as a share of business sector GDP has increased rapidly across advanced market economies during the past several decades, and this explosion in intangible capital has been matched by a huge increase in related research on how rising intangible intensity has affected economic activity, the structure of the economy, and financial markets. These developments provide the backdrop for this survey essay—a summary of a keynote address delivered at the ESCoE-IARIW conference on intangible assets held in London in 2021—written from the perspective of someone involved in intangibles research since the early 2000s. The essay selectively reviews work by researchers inside and outside National Statistical Offices (mostly on the measurement side) to highlight how far the measurement community has come since the early 2000s and to offer a perspective on key measurement research questions for the future to highlight the road ahead.
References
- Abraham, K. G., Jarmin, R. S., Moyer, B. C., & Shapiro, M. D. (2022). Big data for twenty-first-century economic statistics. University of Chicago Press and NBER.
10.7208/chicago/9780226801391.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Ardanaz-Badia, A., Martin, J., Morgan, M., & Schneebacher, J. (2022). Channels of managerial capital accumulation–a framework and new evidence from UK Microdata, ESCoE Discussion Paper, ESCoE DP, 2022-15.
- Bloom, N., Kawakubo, T., Meng, C., Mizen, P., Riley, R., Senga, T., & Van Reenan, J. (2021). Managing expectations: How better managed firms make better macro and micro forecasts, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Bontadini, F., Corrado, C., Haskel, J., Iommi, M., & Jona-Lasinio, C. (2023). Euklems & intanprod: Industry productivity accounts with intangibles. LUISS Lab of European Economics.
- Brynjolfsson, E., Collis, C., Diewert, W. E., Eggers, F., & Fox, K. J. (2019). G.D.P.-B: Accounting for the value of new and free goods in the digital economy. NBER working paper #25695.
- Cammeraat, E., Samek, L., & Squicciarini, M. (2021). Management, skills and productivity, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Carson, C. S., Grimm, B. T., Carol, E., & Moylan, C. E. (1994). A satellite account for research and development. Survey of Current Business, 74, 37–71.
- Corrado, C., Haskel, J., Iommi, M., & Jona-Lasinio, C. (2022). The value of data in digital-based business models: Measurement and economic policy implications. OECD economics department working paper No. 1723.
- Corrado, C., Haskel, J., & Jona-Lasinio, C. (2017). Public intangibles: The public sector and economic growth in the SNA. Review of Income and Wealth, 63, S355–S380.
- Corrado, C., Haskel, J., Jona-Lasinio, C., & Iommi, M. (2022). Intangible capital and modern economies. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36, 3–28.
- Corrado, C., Hulten, H., & Sichel, D. (2005). Measuring capital and technology: An expanded framework. In Measuring capital in the new economy (pp. 11–46). University of Chicago Press and NBER.
- Corrado, C., Hulten, H., & Sichel, D. (2009). Intangible capital and us economic growth. Review of Income and Wealth, 55, 661–685.
- Coyle, D. (2023). Missing capitals: How should we think about the modern wealth of nations? Economics Observatory.
- Coyle, D., & Diepeveen, S. (2021). Creating and governing social value from data. Available at SSRN 3973034.
- de Bondt, H., & Mushkudiani, N. (2021). Estimating the value of data in The Netherlands, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Eaton, J., & Kortum, S. (2021). Accounting for intangibles, (Conference presentation). 36th IARIW virtual general conference.
- Garner, C., Russell, M., Bessen, J., Meyer, P., & Sveikauskas, L. (2021). Intangible capital and U.S. productivity growth in 61 industries, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Goodridge, P., Haskel, J., & Edquist, H. (2022). We see data everywhere except in the productivity statistics. Review of Income and Wealth, 68, 862–894.
- Haskel, J., & Westlake, S. (2017). Capitalism without capital: The rise of the intangible economy. Princeton University Press.
10.2307/j.ctvc77hhj Google Scholar
- Haskel, J., & Westlake, S. (2022). Restarting the future: How to fix the intangible economy. Princeton University Press.
- Jona-Lasinio, C., Meliciani, V., & Sopranzetti, S. (2021). Organizational capital and global value chain participation: Fostering productivity growth in the digital ecoomy, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangible capital and their contributions to growth, London, UK.
- Kara, A., & Lennard, J. (2020). Valuing economic statistics: A case study. Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Occasional Paper 02.
- Kendrick, J. W. (1972). The treatment of intangible resources as capital. Review of Income and Wealth, 18, 109–125.
10.1111/j.1475-4991.1972.tb00853.x Google Scholar
- Li, W., & Chi, P. J. (2021). Online platforms' creative “disruption” in organizational capital–the accumulated information of the firm. (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Li, W., & Hall, B. H. (2020). Depreciation of Business R&D Capital. Review of Income and Wealth, 66, 161–180.
- Martin, J., & Baybutt, C. (2021). The ‘F words’: Why surveying businesses about intangibles is so hard, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Nakamura, L. (2021). Deflating intangible investment: Some new ideas and estimates, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2022). In C. Mackie & D. Sichel (Eds.), Modernizing the consumer Price index for the 21st century. National Acadamies.
- Oliner, S. D., & Sichel, D. (1994). Computers and output growth revisited: How big is the puzzle? Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1994, 273–334.
10.2307/2534658 Google Scholar
- O'Mahony, M., & Weale, M. (2021). Depreciation and net capital services: How much do intangibles contribute to economic growth? (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE Conference Measuring Intangibles and Their Contribution to Growth, London, UK.
- Robbins, C., Korkmaz, G., Guci, L., Bayoán Santiago Calderón, J., & Kramer, B. (2021). A first look at open-source software investment in the United States and in other countries, 2009–2019, (Conference presentation). IARIW-ESCoE conference measuring intangibles and their contribution to growth, London, UK.
- Rolfe, H., Runge, J., & Srinivasan, S. (2020). The value of economic statistics: Baseline report, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) technical report 05.
- Sichel, D., & Von Hippel, E. (2021). Household innovation and R&D: Bigger than you think. Review of Income and Wealth, 67, 639–658.
- Silk, A. J., & Berndt, E. R. (2021). Aggregate advertising expenditure in the us economy: Measurement and growth issues in the digital era. Foundations and Trends® in Marketing, 15, 1–85.
