Mind the financing gap: Enhancing the contribution of intangible assets to productivity

Intangible assets are an important driver of productivity and ultimately output growth. Yet, despite their aggregate rise in the past decades, productivity has continued to grow modestly in the majority of OECD countries. This is in part because many firms – particularly young and small ones - are often held back from building up intangible assets, as financing their production or acquisition is more difficult than for tangibles. Building on the analytical framework recently developed by the OECD (Demmou, Stefanescu and Arquié, 2019; Demmou, Franco and Stefanescu, 2019) and extending the empirical analysis, the paper provides evidence that easing financing restrictions is particularly beneficial for productivity in sectors that rely more intensively on intangible assets, indirectly pointing to the existence of a “financing gap” due to financial frictions. This aggregate productivity impact reflects both increases in the productivity of each firm and better allocation of labour across firms. Recognizing cross-country differences in the structure of financial systems, the policy discussion focuses on how to make the three main sources of external finance available to firms -- bank lending, equity financing, and direct government support -- more suited to fit the needs of an intangible-based economy. Finally, the paper briefly discusses the extent to which the COVID-19 crisis may have created specific challenges for intangible investment, making policy interventions in these areas more relevant and urgent.