Data and Code for: "The Economics of Intangible Capital"

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Nicolas Crouzet; Janice C. Eberly; Andrea L. Eisfeldt; Dimitris Papanikolaou

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
replication			06/08/2022 12:05:PM

Project Citation:

Crouzet, Nicolas, Eberly, Janice C., Eisfeldt, Andrea L., and Papanikolaou, Dimitris. Data and Code for: “The Economics of Intangible Capital.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-08-24. https://doi.org/10.3886/E172021V1

Project Description

Summary:

Intangible assets are a large and growing part of firms’ capital stocks. Intangibles are accumulated via investment — foregoing consumption today for output in the future — but they lack a physical presence. Rather than stopping with this “lack”, we instead focus on the positive properties of intangibles that follow. In particular, intangibles must be stored, so characteristics of the storage medium have important implications for their value and use. These properties include non-rivalry, allowing the intangible to be used simultaneously in different production streams, and limited excludability, which prevents the firm from capturing all of the benefits or rents from the intangible. We develop these ideas in a simple way to illustrate how properties such as scalability and the unique distribution of ownership arise. We discuss how a careful study of intangibles can help to understand important trends in macroeconomics and finance, including measurement of productivity, factor shares, inequality, investment and valuation, rents and market power, and firm financing.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: intangible capital; intangible assets; investment; property rights; financial constraints; innovation; capital budgeting; capital structure

JEL Classification:
      E01 Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
      E22 Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
      G11 Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
      G31 Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies; Capacity
      O34 Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-08-24]

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DDI 2.5

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