Measuring the Intangible Content of Goods Traded on International Markets. An Exercise on "Made in Italy" versus "Made in China" case

This article aims at proposing a simple, easily applicable, but still reliable methodology, based upon the analysis of price differentials, designed for quantifying the intangible versus tangible attributes embedded in commodities traded on the contemporary international ma University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy rkets. The proposed methodology is based upon the analysis of price differentials, considered as important indicators of consumer-perceived quality differentiation between similar goods having diverse suppliers. In the analysis exercise presented, we compared different products of Italy and China through disaggregating the available statistical data and highlighting the qualitative differences between "Made in Italy" and "Made in China" goods. The relationship between intangible assets, at firm and territory level, and the intangible contents of goods is also discussed, and implications for firms' strategies and industrial policy are drawn.