The impact of foreign investments on critical intangible assets (Etlatieto)

This research project creates a situational picture of the effects of foreign investments on strategic and critical intangible assets. The results of the project help to outline how strategic/critical intangible capital can be defined, what effects foreign investments have on them, and how current or future policy measures can prevent undesirable outcomes related to the transfer of intangible assets to foreign ownership.

The project aims to answer following research questions:

• How are strategic/critical intangible assets defined?
• How much, in which sectors and from which countries have foreign direct investments, i.e., company founding and transactions, been made to Finland in the last ten years?
• What is the significance of intangible rights in sectors where foreign direct investments have been made?
• What is the economic significance of intangible rights in companies that have been the target of transactions?
• What is the importance of a company’s intangible assets when making an investment or transaction decision?
• How much, from which sectors and to which countries have intangible assets from Finland been transferred to foreign ownership through foreign direct investments in the last ten years?
• What effects can foreign direct investments have on critical intangible assets?
• What kind of effects can foreign direct investments have on the innovation of the national business sector?

Etla is implementing this project in cooperation with Hanken School of Economics and IPR University Center.