Research Details

Abstract

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 — though they lack a physical presence. But rather than stopping with this ”lack”, we instead focus on the actual properties of intangibles that follow — in particular, non-rivalry and the need for storage. We model these properties in a simple way to demonstrate the economic implications, such as scalability and appropriability, that are often associated with intangibles. These implications coincide with a number of important issues and trends in macroeconomics and finance, including measurement of productivity, inequality, investment and valuation, rents and market power, and financing.

Type

Article

Author(s)

Date Published

2022

Citations

. 2022. The Economics of Intangible Capital. Journal of Economic Perspectives.(3): 29-52.