مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد پویایی سرمایه گذاری در اروپا – الزویر 2019

1- Introduction

2- What determines investment in intangible assets?

3- Empirical analysis

4- Results

5- Conclusion

References

Abstract

In this paper, we look at the determinants of investment in intangible assets in Europe and explore whether their drivers and barriers are the same as for tangible assets. Our assessment suggests that tangible and intangible assets indeed appear to be affected somewhat differently by some of the tested key determinants. For instance, the regulatory framework seems to be more relevant for investment in intangibles while financial conditions, and in particular the availability of external funding, appear to be more relevant for tangible investment. Moreover, some evidence of complementarities between investments across different asset types suggests that a barrier to investment relevant for one asset type may indirectly impede investment in other assets too as there are synergies among different asset types, notably between tangible and intangible assets but also between different types of intangible assets.

Introduction

Since the onset of the global economic and financial crisis, the EU has been experiencing relatively low levels of investment. Despite signs of a moderate turnaround since 2014, the investment recovery remains fragile. Accordingly, across Europe, remarkable endeavours are being made to stimulate investment, notably to unlock drivers and to address barriers preventing investment from reaching a socio-economically optimal level (European Commission, 2018). To the extent that low investment is observed even among some of the most successful sectors and firms, it is difficult to argue that it is mainly driven by a constraint limiting capital accumulation. Instead, it appears that we either struggle to capture investment well – i.e. for some reason underestimate total investment – or faced with pertinent barriers holding back their investment decisions firms may have deliberately chosen a lower level of investment. Resolving these questions is important for policy making. In fact, if the explanation for an overall sluggish investment in Europe arises from a temporary phenomenon, for instance due to credit rationing in times of crisis, the policy implications would be quite differentthan in case of a systematic change in the capital allocation choices made by firms (Crouzet and Eberly, 2018). Zooming into investment figures per asset type reveals some interesting patterns (see Graph 1 ). While investment in tangible assets dropped during the financial crisis and remained flat thereafter (at least in the EU28), evidence points to a rapid expansion of investment in intangible assets.