The aim of this paper is to review and evaluate existing policies towards intangible assets in order to derive first insights as to the policy implications of the intangible economy. We first present the current and main indicators of intangible assets used for policy-making; we outline their limitations, and show in a second step that the limitation results from a lack of (or imperfect) account for intangible assets in economic theory. The same limitations explain the limited effects of current policies towards intangibles.
At present, there is no single policy towards intangible investments; rather, existing policies aimed at favouring the development of intangible investments have been separated into different fields, corresponding to different intangible assets: policies that favour innovation, policies that favour employment and human capital, policies that favour the development of knowledge-intensive sectors, trade policy, competition and competitiveness policies. Various categories of intangible assets have been proposed and mainly include as intangibles innovation, human capital, organisational capital and knowledge.
We subsequently present what the rise in the intangible economy really means. It is not just that firms are trying to measure some assets that were previously neglected, and that national accounts and consequently policy should be adapted accordingly if better measures are found. The real meaning of the rise in intangible assets is that a new paradigm, a new way of organising production and creating value has appeared and has important implications for the policy framework defined in economic theory and therefore for policy recommendations.
Hence the importance for national and European policy makers to understand the new paradigm and adapt policy accordingly.