ABSTRACT

This chapter builds on the research performed by the team of the PRISM network headed by Patrizio Bianchi and co-ordinated by Sandrine Labory. The research showed that the “intangible economy” neither means that some new assets have suddenly appeared and should now be taken into account nor that a new buzzwords has been coined to be used in political rhetorics. Intangible assets have always existed but what is new is the importance they have taken in recent years. Their growing importance is a tangible phenomenon that has important policy implications. The focus of this team was precisely the analysis of the policy implications of the growing importance of intangible assets in economies, and the work was published in a book (Bianchi and Labory 2004a).