total factor productivity and intangible capital in different levels of technology: a case study of iranian manufacturing industries

This article tries to examine intangible investment in different levels ofiranian industrial technology by using a comprehensive measure ofintangible capital costs in iran from 1996 to 2018. previous studies inthe study of intangible capital on total factor productivity (tfp), showthat intangible investment has a positive and significant effect on thisvariable in iran's manufacturing industry with a four-digit isic code.also among the components, information and communicationtechnology (ict) has a more prominent role on the tfp variable. thisstudy examines all the factors (which play a role in measuringintangible investment) on the growth of tfp at different levels oftechnology (which are divided into four categories).unlike previousstudies, for all industries, apart from technology levels, ict is veryeffective and other components are ignored, the results of this studyshow that other factors affect intangible investment except ict in hightechand medium / high industries have higher impact on tfp thanict and vice versa. it is also suggested to achieve the highest optimallevel of tfp, by separating different levels of technology, to focus oncomponents such as research and development, brand, educationalservices, etc. for high levels and ict factor for low levels.