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

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.