Intangible capital in France and Germany: is there a measurement issue?

Abstract In this article, we highlight important differences in capital investment and capital stock in intangible assets between France and Germany, which we attribute to potential measurement issues between the two countries. Using data from the latest 2025 EUKLEMS/INTANProd release for the period 1995 to 2021, we identify investment in software and databases, along with investment in organizational capital, as key drivers of these differences. Investment in software appears to be three times higher in France than in Germany, while organizational capital is about two and a half times larger in France. Given the comparable economic growth patterns of these two countries in recent decades, we believe these measurement discrepancies could have significant implications for understanding both past growth trends and prospects for future growth.