 Finland’s Future Growth Depends on Intangible Capital: Why Policy Must Expand Its Scope Beyond R&DPetri Rouvinen, Otto Kässi and Mika Pajarinen No 164, ETLA Reports from The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Abstract: Abstract Finland’s future prosperity hinges on intangible assets such as software, data, brands, and organizational capital. While research and development (R&D) is a central intangible asset, other types collectively hold greater significance. The growth trajectory of Finland’s intangible investments stalled with the 2008–2009 financial crisis and resumed only after the COVID-19 pandemic. This “lost decade” partly explains Finland’s sluggish economic and productivity performance. Innovation policy should broaden its focus beyond R&D to encompass other forms of intangible investment, as well as the adoption and diffusion of innovations. Policy should prioritize quality over quantity, encourage bold experimentation, and support scaling. This necessitates a shift towards equity financing and fostering skilled labor mobility. Mergers and acquisitions are vital for leveraging and disseminating intangible capital, but anti-competitive “killer acquisitions” are not in the national interest. Keywords: Intangible capital; Investments; Productivity; Innovation policy; Economic growth; Spillovers (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rif:report:164 Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from Access Statistics for this paper More papers in ETLA Reports from The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Contact information at EDIRC. |
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