As the accelerated technological advances of the past two decades continue to reshape the United States' economy, intangible assets and high-technology investments are taking larger roles. These developments have raised a number of concerns, such as: How do we measure intangible assets like organizational capital and research and development investment? Are we accurately appraising the contribution and depreciation of high-technology capital? The answers to these questions have broad implications for the assessment of the economy's growth over the long term, for the pace of technological advancement in the economy, and for estimates of the nation's wealth.
In" Measuring Capital in the New Economy," Carol Corrado, John Haltiwanger, Daniel Sichel, and a host of distinguished collaborators offer new approaches for measuring capital in an economy that is increasingly dominated by high-technology capital and intangible assets. As the contributors show, these resources affect the economy in ways that are controversial and notoriously difficult to appraise. The challenge in measuring intangibles and the need for transparency in business accounting create inevitable tensions. At the heart of many of the recent corporate scandals has been an uncertainty about the treatment of intangibles in business accounts. In this detailed and thorough analysis of the problem and its solutions, the contributors study the nature of this economic challenge and provide guidance as to what factors should be included in calculations of different types of capital for economists, policymakers, and the financial and accounting communities alike.