Modelling intangibles at the regional level in Europe: what lessons from a multidimensional approach?

Abstract

Extant literature has examined intangible assets at firm and macro-levels but lacks their comprehensive analysis at territorial level. Yet, large discrepancies exist between regions, which cannot be attributed to micro-level variations alone, or observed from a higher level of aggregation to countries. We examine regional economic implications of intangible capital focusing on different sets of regional intangible assets. We build a combined dataset at the European regional level and perform spatial regression analysis accounting for cross-region interdependence. Results indicate significant effects of intangibles and the importance of their complementary relationships for regional development. Implications for research and policy making are derived.

Using Fractal Enterprise Modeling in Strategic Analysis with Focus on Intangibles: Empirical Study in Product Innovation

“…Yet, there is a very limited spectrum of EM approaches concerning integrating and understanding the intangibles in organizational settings. Even though some examples of the intangibles' incorporation into the EM languages can be found in, e.g., iStar [62], through a combination of the knowledge management (KM) and EM disciplines [15], [24], [29], [30], and simulation techniques to characterize the intangible assets [14], most of the recent research is dominated by measuring the impact of intangibles on the business performance using the mathematical models [10]- [12], [17], [39], [40]. Thus, there is no obvious solution to how to incorporate the intangibles into the business analysis within the existing EM models, e.g., within their hierarchy, components, composition, origin, possession, how they are used and interwoven into the tangible settings, etc.…”

“…Moreover, the tangibles diminish in their importance as differentiating factors of competitive advantage [6]- [8], because the intangible resources allow the utilization of other resources more efficiently [9] and have a significant influence on the emergent properties within an organizational system [10]- [13]. Although, the new business reality emphasizes the strategic importance of the intangibles [14]- [17], simply being aware of their significance may not be equal to being able to apply them in a particular organizational setting/situation. Managers need more practical tools that help to extract the available knowledge on the intangibles from their organizations.…”