Intangibles, value chains and productivity

Global value chains can involve the distribution of different parts of the value chain, from production, research and development (R&D) to prototyping, demonstration, marketing and commercialization, across different locations and with different degrees of control. There are indications that value creation is increasingly concentrated at the end points of the value chain; ie.  within R&D and innovation at the beginning of the value chain, and within marketing and customer relations at the end.

Furthermore, many emerging economies are now more capable in knowledge intensive and high value activities, which play a central role for productivity growth in EU and OECD countries.

This raises a number of interesting questions that are related to intangible assets and knowledge spillovers. First, can the slowdown in productivity growth in EU and OECD countries be influenced by emerging economies growing capability for value creation through R&D and innovation? And how does this affect the organization of global value chains, and particularly the placement of R&D activities, for large multinational firms. Finally, the increased technical capacity of many emerging economies can also influence the nature and direction of global knowledge flows and their application in national innovation development