Intangible Capital, Heterogeneous Borrowing Types, and Firm Dynamics

Suleyman Faruk Gozen, David Hong and Mehment Furkan Karaca

Bristol Economics Discussion Papers from School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: We study how non-rival intangible capital interacts with borrowing structure and financial frictions to shape firm dynamics over business cycles. We show: (i) the positive and significant association between intangible-capital growth and labor productivity growth becomes smaller in recessions; (ii) the non-rivalry of intangible capital is evident such that intangible growth predicts faster sales growth and broader firm scope, yet this relationship declines in recessions; (iii) intangible-intensive firms carry less total and secured debt, and substitute toward earnings-based covenant (EBC) borrowing over asset-based covenant (ABC) borrowing; and (iv) intangible-intensive firms with EBC have tightening financially constraints in recessions, which mitigates the productivity payoff of non-rival intangibles. We rationalize these patterns in a general-equilibrium model in which firms draw EBC/ABC constraints at entry and intangibles are non-rival in the firm production technology. The model yields a creditamplification mechanism with heterogeneous borrowing types, reconciling the productivity slowdown despite rising intangibles

Date: 2025-04-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge, nep-ent and nep-sbm
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