5 Conclusion
A growing literature on intangible investment posits—and sometimes confrms empirically—that such investment results in an intangible asset of the frm that improves frm performance. In the standard the model, the presence of this productive input that is not included among measured inputs should be refected in higher productivity and proftability as conventionally measured.
Using frm-level data from the New Zealand, we link self-reported intangible investment activities—including R&D, employee training, marketing, and organisational restructuring—with measures of frm performance and activity. We fnd evidence of plausible variation in our intangible measures across diferent industries: Our measure of intangible investment is highest in ‘information media and telecommunications’; ‘manufacturing’; and ‘professional, scientifc and technical services’. It is lowest in ‘agricultural, forestry and fshing’; and ‘mining’.
Examining the characteristics of intangibles-investing frms, we fnd that intangible investment is decreasing with age; increasing with frm size; is unrelated to past output growth relative to the industry average; and is highest with a moderate amount of perceived competition.
