Intangible Investment and Firm Performance

NBER Working Paper No. 24363

Issued in March 2018

NBER Program(s):Industrial Organization, Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship



We combine survey and administrative data for about 13,000 New Zealand firms from 2005 to 2013 to study intangible investment and firm performance. We find that firm size and moderate competition is associated with higher intangible investment, while firm age is associated with lower intangible investment. Examining firm performance, we find that higher investment is associated with higher labour and capital input, higher revenue, and higher firm-reported employee and customer satisfaction, but not with higher productivity or profitability. The evidence suggests that intangible investment is associated with growth and 'soft' performance objectives, but not with productivity or profitability.

Acknowledgments

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Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w24363

Published: Nathan Chappell & Adam Jaffe, 2018. "Intangible Investment and Firm Performance," Review of Industrial Organization, vol 52(4), pages 509-559. citation courtesy of