Intangible Capital in a transition economy-improvements and constraints: an analysis of Serbian firms

During the 1990s Serbian economy stayed on the margin of major investment flows, technology progress and businesses in international markets. In view of the deficiency in capital except for some FDI, we analyse to what extent Serbian economy can develop some other resources, such as human capital, internal relations, management and marketing skills, innovations and other fields perceived as intangible capital elements. Analysing a total of 71 firms we attempt to identify whether the role of intangible assets was recognised within the firms and – according to the results obtained – to recommend some policy measures. The paper addresses three major issues: (i) human capital accumulation including internal relations, (ii) external relations, as well as (iii) innovation, R&D and competencies.