Autores: Diego Aboal, Gustavo Crespi and Marcelo Perera
Publicado en: Documento de Trabajo CINVE 04/2025 ISSN: 1688-6183
Abstract
We analyze the impact of intangible capital on firm-level productivity in Uruguay over the period 2013–2023, replicating the empirical framework of Castillo and Crespi (2024) for Peru and adding some extensions. Using a panel of Uruguayan firms and mul- tiple production function estimators (OLS, fixed effects, and control function methods of Olley-Pakes, Levinsohn-Petrin, and Ackerberg-Caves-Frazer), we find that intangi- ble capital contributes positively and significantly to productivity. A one standard deviation increase in a firm’s intangible intensity is associated with approximately a 3% higher total factor productivity, and our estimates suggest that the productivity premium of intangible assets is almost 1.3 times the marginal productivity of tangible investments. We also find that firms investing in intangibles pay moderately higher wages, but this wage premium does not fully offset the productivity gains from intan- gibles. In other words, a portion of the intangible-induced productivity improvement is retained as increased firm performance (profits or market share), consistent with imper- fect spillovers and appropriability of returns. Some extensions of the analysis show that: (i) software-based intangibles yields especially high private returns, (ii) multi-product firms share a larger portion of gains with workers, and (iii) monopsony power in labor markets reduces wage pass-through of productivity premium. We discuss how these findings compare to evidence for Peru, highlighting that Uruguay’s smaller, open econ- omy context exhibits similar qualitative patterns—intangibles boost productivity and confer a capital productivity premium—though with some differences in magnitudes. The results underscore the policy importance of encouraging intangible investment and improving firms’ capacity to absorb and utilize intangibles, especially given the cur- rently low incidence of intangible investment in Uruguay.
JEL Codes: O30, O40, D24, J24, L60, L80
Keywords: Intangible capital, productivity, wages, Uruguay, firm-level data, econometric estimation