Measuring Investment in Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are key drivers of innovation, productivity and economic growth. Despite their importance, our understanding of the size and impact of intangible assets remains limited due to gaps and lags in the available data. More timely data with better coverage beyond high-income economies is essential to help inform pro-growth policies.
To address these knowledge gaps, the WIPO-LBS Partnership on Intangible Assets in the Global Economy aims to generate up-to-date global estimates of investment in intangible assets.
Why measure intangible investment?
Up-to-date statistics on investment in intangible assets, especially with an improved coverage of emerging economies, can be used to inform pro-growth national policies.
Furthermore, this data can help researchers and entrepreneurs alike understand the links between intangible assets and economic performance, not only across countries but also within companies and sectors.
Better metrics are also crucial for improving innovation finance, including intellectual property-backed innovation finance.
Challenges in measurement
The measurement of intangible assets poses several challenges. The “non-physical” nature of intangible assets makes them intrinsically hard to measure and report. Moreover, many intangible asset types, such as brands or design, are still not recognized as investment under national accounting frameworks.
The existing data also suffers from gaps in coverage and time lags, especially outside high-income economies.
Intangible Assets in the Global Economy: Better Data for Better Policy
To address the knowledge gaps in measuring intangible investment, WIPO’s IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector (IES), Department for Economics and Data Analytics has established a program of work on Intangible Assets in the Global Economy.
In partnership with Luiss Business School, this program aims to produce timely estimates of intangible investment in high-income as well as emerging economies, starting with India.
The results of this work will be released annually via the World Intangible Investment Highlights, presenting the key trends in intangible investment, as well as via the Global INTAN-Invest Database.
Read the full description of the project in the project flyer (PDF)
General enquiries
General enquiries relating to this project, including from students, academics, journalists and others, may be sent to intangibles@wipo.int
Steering Committee members
Technical Advisory Board
- Bishawanath Goldar (Institute for Economic Growth, India)
- Tsutomu Miyagawa (Gakushuin University and Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Japan)
- Mary O'Mahony (King's College, UK)
- Bart van Ark (University of Manchester, UK)
- Rodrigo Ventura (Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI), Brazil)
