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Intangible Investment and Firm Performance

Author

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  • Nathan Chappell

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Adam Jaffe

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

Abstract

We combine survey and administrative data for about 13,000 firms from 2005 to 2013 to study the inter-relationships among firm characteristics, intangible investment and firm performance. We find that firm size is associated with higher intangible investment, while firm age, very low competition (‘captive market’) and very high competition (‘many competitors, none dominant’) are associated with lower intangible investment. Relating intangible investment to subsequent firm performance, we find that higher investment is associated with higher labour and capital input and higher revenue, relative to what would otherwise have been predicted. We also find that higher investment is associated with higher firm-reported employee and customer satisfaction, but is not associated with higher productivity or profitability. While we cannot estimate a causal model, the evidence suggests that intangible investment is associated with firm strategies related to growth and possibly to ‘soft’ performance objectives, but not to productivity or profitability.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan Chappell & Adam Jaffe, 2016. "Intangible Investment and Firm Performance," Working Papers 16_14, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:16_14
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ryota Nakatani, 2019. "Firm performance and corporate finance in New Zealand," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(13), pages 1118-1124, July.
    3. Roth, Felix & Sen, Ali & Rammer, Christian, 2021. "Intangible Capital and Firm-Level Productivity – Evidence from Germany," Hamburg Discussion Papers in International Economics 9, University of Hamburg, Department of Economics.
    4. He, Qiuqin & Guijarro-Garcia, Maria & Costa-Climent, Juan, 2022. "Impact of knowledge-based capital on firm productivity: The contingent effect of ownership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 85-94.
    5. Qing Li & Long Hai Vo, 2024. "Determinants of intangible capital investment in Vietnam: A firm‐level analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 1055-1088, March.
    6. Boyan Jovanovic & Sai Ma, 2022. "Uncertainty and Growth Disasters," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 44, pages 33-64, April.
    7. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Aid for Trade flows, Patent Rights Protection and Total Factor Productivity," EconStor Preprints 274650, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Mike Onder Kaymaz & Ilker Yilmaz & Ozgur Kaymaz, 2019. "The Impact Of Intangible Factors On Profitability: Evidence From Corporations Traded At Muscat Securities Market In Oman," Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 8(2), pages 25-47.
    9. Hyuk Chung, 2021. "Adoption and Development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology: Features and Determinants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Richard Fabling, 2021. "Living on the edge: An anatomy of New Zealand’s most productive firms," Working Papers 21_01, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    11. John Janssen & Margaret Galt & Giles Bollinger, 2022. "New Zealand's Productivity Performance: Taking a Broader View," Treasury Analytical Notes Series an22/05, New Zealand Treasury.
    12. Hiroki, Takashi & Iwatsubo, Kentaro & Watkins, Clinton, 2022. "Does firm-level productivity predict stock returns?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Cristiano Antonelli & Gianluca Orsatti & Guido Pialli, 2023. "The effects of the limited exhaustibility of knowledge on firm size and the direction of technological change," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1359-1385, August.
    14. Carsten Fink & Bronwyn H. Hall & Christian Helmers, 2018. "Intellectual Property Use in Middle Income Countries: The Case of Chile," NBER Working Papers 24348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Klaus Friesenbichler & Agnes Kügler & Julia Schieber-Knöbl, 2022. "Wie viel wird in Wissenskapital von österreichischen Unternehmen investiert?. Evidenz von Mikrodaten," WIFO Research Briefs 23, WIFO.
    16. Shenglang Yang & Yixiao Zhou & Ligang Song, 2018. "Determinants of Intangible Investment and Its Impacts on Firms' Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Private Manufacturing Firms," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(6), pages 1-26, November.
    17. Charlotte Emlinger & Sébastien Jean & Vincent Vicard, 2019. "L’étonnante atonie des exportations françaises : retour sur la compétitivité et ses déterminants," CEPII Policy Brief 2019-24, CEPII research center.
    18. Richard Harris & Astrid Krenz & John Moffat, 2021. "The Effects of Absorptive Capacity on Innovation Performance: A Cross‐country Perspective," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 589-607, May.
    19. Marie Le Mouel & Alexander Schiersch, 2020. "Knowledge-Based Capital and Productivity Divergence," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1868, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Yehui Tong & Zelia Serrasqueiro, 2020. "The Influential Factors on Capital Structure: A Study on Portuguese High Technology and Medium-High Technology Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(4), pages 23-35, July.
    21. Allan, Corey & Maré, David C. & Hyslop, Dean R., 2025. "Monopsony in the New Zealand Labour Market: First Estimates from Administrative Data," IZA Discussion Papers 17614, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Mattia Di Ubaldo & Iulia Siedschlag, 2021. "Investment in Knowledge‐Based Capital and Productivity: Firm‐Level Evidence from a Small Open Economy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 363-393, June.
    23. Ryota Nakatani, 2023. "Does debt maturity influence productivity?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(1), pages 116-136.
    24. Wolfhard Kaus & Viktor Slavtchev & Markus Zimmermann, 2024. "Intangible capital and productivity: Firm-level evidence from German manufacturing," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 970-996.
    25. Roth, Felix, 2019. "Intangible Capital and Labour Productivity Growth: A Review of the Literature," Hamburg Discussion Papers in International Economics 4, University of Hamburg, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intangible investment; productivity; firm performance; industrial policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm

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