Volume 24 Issue 3 Thematic Issue: The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean Article 1 September 2022 The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central- The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central- Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean Igor Lonč arski University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Ljubljana, Slovenia Mojca Marc University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Ljubljana, Slovenia, mojca.marc@ef.uni-lj.si Follow this and additional works at: https://www.ebrjournal.net/home Part of the Business Commons, and the Economics Commons Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Lonč arski, I., & Marc, M. (2022). The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean. Economic and Business Review, 24(3), 141-142. https://doi.org/10.15458/2335-4216.1307 This Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by Economic and Business Review. It has been accepted for inclusion in Economic and Business Review by an authorized editor of Economic and Business Review. EDITORIAL The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean Igor Loncarski, Mojca Marc* University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Ljubljana, Slovenia T his issue of the Economic and Business Re- view, titled “The Characteristics and Role of Intangible Capital in Central-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and in the Mediterranean,” is devoted to examining the nature and role of intangible capital in the performance of economies, sectors, andfirms throughout the region. The analysis of the contribution of intangible capital to economic and firm performance is not new in economic theory. It was already recognised by Veblen (1908),but itwasnot until the emergence of the New Economy in the 1990s and the work of authors such as Nakamura (1999) and Lev (2001), and especially Corrado et al. (2005, 2006, 2009), who clearlydefinedintangiblecapitalasthesumofthree components: 1) computerized information (com- puter software, computerized databases); 2) inno- vative capital (which includes mainly research and development but also other innovative expendi- tures);and3)economiccompetencies(brandequity, firm-specific human capital, and organisational structure). Empirical analyses of the size of intan- gible capital investment and its contribution to pri- vate sector productivity have shown that intangible capitalinvestmentaccountsforasignificantshareof GDP, and in some countries the size of intangible investment is even comparable to investment in tangible capital. Intangible investment is important for both developed and developing economies. However, there are differences both in the extent of intangible capital accumulation and in the motivations, de- terminants of investment, and impacts. These characteristicswerethesubjectofthethematicissue of our journal. We are pleased to announce that the issue was guesteditedbyfourrenownedexpertsinthefieldof intangible capital: Mojca Bavdaz, Yannis Calo- ghriou, Mira Dimitric, and Aimilia Protogerou. Dr. Mojca Bavdaz is an associate professor of statistics atthe School ofEconomicsandBusinessat the University of Ljubljana. She is an expert on official statistics and business data collection meth- odology, focusing recently on intangibles. At the Slovenian National Statistical Institute, she is a member of the Methodological Council and presi- dent of the Statistical Advisory Committee on Business Statistics. Dr.YannisCaloghirouisProfessorEmeritusatthe National Technical University of Athens and an expert in the field of socio-economic research. He has extensive experience in international project collaboration and has participated in a number of EU high-level expert and policy groups. Mira Dimitric, PhD, is a full professor at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business. Her research interests include corporate finance and accounting. She has been the leader of several national and university scientific projects and has participated as aresearcher in international scientific projects. Aimilia Protogerou holds a PhD in Corporate Strategy and Industrial Policy and is a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Industrial and En- ergy Economics of the National Technical Univer- sity of Athens. Her research interests revolve * Corresponding author. E-mail address: mojca.marc@ef.uni-lj.si (M. Marc). https://doi.org/10.15458/2335-4216.1307 2335-4216/© 2022 School of Economics and Business University of Ljubljana. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). around strategic management of technology and innovation, technology policy and cooperative research and development, innovation networks and knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship. The volume contains five contributions dealing with intangibles from different perspectives. The first paper, written by guest editors Mojca Bavdaz, Yannis Caloghirou, Mira Dimitric and Aimilia Protogerou, introduces the topic of intangible as- sets and their impact on economic performance. The second paper, authored by Petros Dimas, Dimitrios Stamopoulos and Aggelos Tsakanikas, examines intangibles and participation in global value chains in the EU, based on data from the GLOBALINTO Input-Output Intangibles Data- base.Thethirdpaper,authoredbyIvanaTadicand Zeljana AljinovicBara c, looks at the role of human capital investment in the business excellence of Croatian companies. The fourth paper, authored by Crt Kostevc and Tjasa Redek, addresses the impact of intangible capital on small business productivity. The final paper, authored by Nina Ponikvar, Maks Tajnikar, and Petra Dosenovic Bonca, examines the triggers of different types of business growth. References Corrado, C., Hulten, C., & Sichel, D. (2005). Measuring capital and technology: An expanded framework (pp. 11e46) [NBER Chap- ters]. National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. https:// econpapers.repec.org/bookchap/nbrnberch/0202.htm Corrado, C., Hulten, C., & Sichel, D. (2006). Intangible capital and economic growth (No. 2006e24; Finance and Economics Dis- cussion Series Divisions of Research & Statistics and Mone- taryAffairsFederalReserveBoard,Washington,D.C.).https:// www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2006/200624/200624pap. pdf Corrado,C.,Hulten,C.,&Sichel,D.(2009).Intangiblecapitaland U.S. economic growth. Review of Income and Wealth, 55(3), 661e685. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2009.00343.x Lev, B. (2001). Intangibles: Management, measurement, and reporting. Brookings Institution Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10. 7864/j.ctvcj2rf2 Nakamura, L. (1999). Intangibles: What put the new in the new economy? Business Review, Jul, 3e16. Veblen,T.(1908). Onthe natureof capital:Investment,intangible assets, and the pecuniary magnate. Quarterly Journal of Eco- nomics, 23(1), 104e136. https://doi.org/10.2307/1883967 142 ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS REVIEW 2022;24:141e142