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on Intellectual Property Rights |
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Issue of 2020‒10‒12
two papers chosen by Giovanni Ramello Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Ali Alsamawi; Charles Cadestin; Alexander Jaax; Joaquim Guilhoto; Sébastien Miroudot; Carmen Zurcher |
| Abstract: | Intangible capital, a broad category of knowledge-based assets that lack physical embodiment, increasingly shapes the distribution of income in global value chains (GVCs). While some intangible assets are reported in national accounts (e.g. R&D or computer software and databases), others are hard to detect in conventional statistics (e.g. brand value or organisational capital). In this paper, we combine information on factor income from national accounts with the OECD Inter-Country Input-Output tables in order to estimate returns to measured (i.e. included in national accounts) and ‘unmeasured’ intangible capital (captured as a residual) in GVCs. We find that total intangible capital accounts for about 27% of income in manufacturing GVCs and that this share has increased between 2005 and 2015 in OECD countries. The paper highlights differences across GVC stages and specific types of GVCs. A significant share of income is captured at the distribution stage, particularly in buyer-driven value chains. An econometric analysis suggests that trade and investment openness are important determinants of patterns in returns to intangible capital in GVCs. Direct public funding of R&D and the quality of intellectual property protection are associated with higher returns to intangible assets. |
| JEL: | E1 E22 F23 F68 |
| Date: | 2020–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:240-en&r=all |
| By: | Alessandra Perri (Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Daniela Silvestri (Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Francesco Zirpoli (Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the evolution of the knowledge base of the automotive industry. Over the last decades, the industry has experienced major changes. New and originally unrelated fields have increasingly become relevant shaping over time the knowledge base of the industry. Using data on patent families granted in the period 1990-2014, we map the knowledge base of the automotive industry by reconstructing and analyzing the patenting portfolio of the top firms operating in this industry. The analysis documents exploration in new technical fields as well as persistence in industry-specific technical areas, pointing to the relevance of core competences that might be difficult to accumulate for industry outsiders. |
| Keywords: | knowledge base evolution, automotive industry, patent analysis |
| JEL: | L62 O34 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:175&r=all |