Investment in knowledge-based capital and its contribution to productivity growth: a review of international and Irish evidence

This paper reviews the international evidence on measuring investment in knowledge-based capital (KBC) and its impact on productivity. On this evidence basis, it provides a conceptual framework to analyse Ireland’s performance in this area on macroeconomic, industry and firm levels. The evidence reviewed in this paper indicates that investment in KBC is sizeable and has increased over time in many advanced economies, including Ireland. At the country, sectoral and firm level, the contribution of investment in KBC to productivity growth over and above other factors including investment in tangible capital is documented as important. This paper also reviews and discusses economic framework policies which could incentivise further investment in knowledge-based capital in Ireland.