The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between output, employment, and physical and intangible capital for an unbalanced panel of Italian manufacturing companies during the 1982-1999 period. In Italy the literature on this issue is less developed, if compared, as an example, to that for the US or for France. Hence, attention is devoted to test whether our results are analogous to those presented in the existing empirical literature. A second interest aspect, linked to the particular country analysed, is the Italian accounting normative on intangibles. Differently from the Anglo-Saxon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and from International Accounting Standards (IAS), intangibles costs may be capitalized as an asset, rather than directly expensed: an example is advanced R&D, capitalised, versus basic R&D, expensed. Therefore, we try to disentangle the informative content of intangibles assets compared to the one of intangible capital stock reconstructed from direct expenses. Finally, the data-set we use reports detailed accounting information on different intangible components. This allows us to explore the contribution to productivity of intellectual capital (R&D and patents) and of customer capital (marks and advertising). The relationship between firms’ productivity and intangibles appears both comparable with that of other countries and robust to the use of alternative panel estimators.
Exploring the Relationship between Intangible Capital and Productivity in Italian Manufacturing Firms
BONTEMPI, Maria Elena;
2005
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between output, employment, and physical and intangible capital for an unbalanced panel of Italian manufacturing companies during the 1982-1999 period. In Italy the literature on this issue is less developed, if compared, as an example, to that for the US or for France. Hence, attention is devoted to test whether our results are analogous to those presented in the existing empirical literature. A second interest aspect, linked to the particular country analysed, is the Italian accounting normative on intangibles. Differently from the Anglo-Saxon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and from International Accounting Standards (IAS), intangibles costs may be capitalized as an asset, rather than directly expensed: an example is advanced R&D, capitalised, versus basic R&D, expensed. Therefore, we try to disentangle the informative content of intangibles assets compared to the one of intangible capital stock reconstructed from direct expenses. Finally, the data-set we use reports detailed accounting information on different intangible components. This allows us to explore the contribution to productivity of intellectual capital (R&D and patents) and of customer capital (marks and advertising). The relationship between firms’ productivity and intangibles appears both comparable with that of other countries and robust to the use of alternative panel estimators.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
