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Intangible Capital

Paper Session

Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EST)

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon E
This session will be streamed live.
Hosted By: 蝌蚪网
  • Chair: Nicolas Crouzet, Northwestern University

FinTech and Customer Capital

Amir Sufi
,
University of Chicago
Bianca He
,
University of Chicago
Lauren Mostrom
,
University of Chicago

Abstract

Financial Technology, "FinTech," firms invest much more heavily in customer capital relative to non-FinTech financial firms, and this difference remains after controlling for sub-sector focus and firm age. The underlying economic mechanisms for this difference are explored. These mechanisms include: (1) the need to establish trust and credibility without physical branches, (2) vertical integration with traditional financial firms, (3) a focus on a platform-based business model with network effects in demand, and (4) the high value of customer data in their business models.

How Labor-Intensive Is Investment?

Matthieu Gomez
,
Columbia University
脡milien Gouin-Bonenfant
,
Columbia University

Abstract

How labor-intensive is the production of investment goods (and services)? In this paper, we construct a harmonized dataset covering the US economy over the last five decades. We estimate the labor share separately in sectors involved in the production of consumption versus investment goods.

R&D uncertainty and cycles

Nicolas Crouzet
,
Northwestern University
Janice Eberly
,
Northwestern University

Abstract

Investment in equipment and structures is one of the most cyclical components of GDP, a fact often associated with a negative response to heightened uncertainty in recessions. R&D investment, by contrast, is only mildly procyclical. We show that this difference could arise because of a positive response of R&D investment to uncertainty promoting more research, development, and experimentation, a feature of most recessions but most notably during COVID. Both effects are distinct manifestations of real options, one in which costly reversibility delays investment, and the other in which investment enhances resolution of uncertainty.

Discussant(s)
Laura Veldkamp
,
Columbia University
Lawrence D.W. Schmidt
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thomas Winberry
,
University of Pennsylvania
JEL Classifications
  • E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy