The knowledge-intensive direction of technological change

The paper articulates and tests the hypothesis that the current direction of technological change is knowledge- rather than capital intensive. The new accounting procedures that identify and quantify intangible assets allow us to test the role of capitalized knowledge as an input in the technology production function. The micro-level evidence from US listed companies included in Compustat, over the period 1977–2016, confirms that the direction of technological change has been increasingly knowledge intensive and tangible-capital saving. It also shows that this trend has increased in its strength over time and across all US sectors. The most dramatic increase in the output elasticity of knowledge occurred in the high-tech and manufacturing sectors. Furthermore, the output elasticity of tangible capital has constantly reduced in the consumer and high-tech sectors over time.