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The Labor Demand Implications of Brand Capital: Evidence from Trademark Transactions

Author

Listed:
  • Arellano-Bover, Jaime

    (Yale University)

  • Bussotti, Carolina

    (Rome Economics Doctorate)

  • Paradisi, Matteo

    (EIEF)

  • Wu, Liangjie

    (EIEF)

Abstract

Brand capital--an intangible asset that differentiates a firm's products--has grown in recent decades, alongside the rise of intangible investment and the decline in the labor share. Trademarks are legal claims on brand capital and are traded across firms, providing a setting to study how reallocating brand capital reshapes firm behavior and aggregate outcomes. Leveraging a novel link of Italian administrative data on trademark ownership, firms' financial statements, and employer–employee records, we exploit firm-to-firm trademark transactions to identify the effects of brand-capital investment. Guided by a model in which firms combine production and expansionary with brand capital, we use an event-study design to estimate firm-level and aggregate effects. Acquiring a trademark increases intangible assets by 19%, sales by 8%, and employment by 6%, while leaving weekly earnings unchanged and reducing the firm-level labor share. Employment gains are concentrated among marketing and sales workers. Trademark transactions reallocate brand capital toward larger firms, raising combined buyer-seller sales. Calibrating the model, we find this reallocation generates a one percentage-point long-run decline in the aggregate labor share.

Suggested Citation

  • Arellano-Bover, Jaime & Bussotti, Carolina & Paradisi, Matteo & Wu, Liangjie, 2026. "The Labor Demand Implications of Brand Capital: Evidence from Trademark Transactions," IZA Discussion Papers 18461, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18461
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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