With the growing knowledge economy investment in intangible assets is starting to match, and is set to overtake, investment in tangible assets. More money and time is now being spent on developing assets such as human capital, and brand value, than on more traditional assets such as bricks, mortar and computers.
What You Get Is Not What You See: Intangible Assets and the Knowledge Economy is the first paper produced by The Work Foundation specifically examining the role of intangibles in the knowledge economy. It draws together existing research to highlight the importance of investment in intangibles for both government and business and the consequences/challenges for traditional measurements/accounting methods.
We are continuing to investigate the role of intangibles in the knowledge economy and are currently undertaking a scoping exercise.