Firms’ Intangible Investments and Financing Constraints: Evidence from Survey Data

Mika Pajarinen and Petri Rouvinen

No 153, ETLA Working Papers from The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy

Abstract: Abstract This report examines the links between firms’ intangible investments and financing constraints using four complementary surveys: the Finnish SME Barometer (autumn 2018 – spring 2026), the Finnish Industry Investment’s (Tesi’s) Growth Company Pulse (2024–2025), the ECB’s SAFE survey (2015–2025), and the EIB Investment Survey, EIBIS (2016–2025). Analyses across the four surveys yield the same basic result: firms investing in intangibles – especially in R&D and innovative activity – are more likely than other firms to face financing constraints. In the Finnish data, financing constraints have become more common since 2022. International comparisons show that the earlier edge of firms operating in Finland in access to finance relative to other EU countries has narrowed, and relative to Sweden the position has turned unfavourable – most markedly for firms investing in intangibles and engaged in innovative activity. The results are consistent with the finding in literature that intangible capital serves poorly as collateral and is therefore particularly exposed to financial market frictions. From the perspective of economic renewal, the financial system should be developed in a direction that better supports intangibles-based growth.

Keywords: Intangible investment; Financing constraint; Research and development; Innovation; Firm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 E22 G32 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2026-10-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc, nep-eec and nep-sbm
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