Measuring economic activity in markets for ideas, innovation, and other intangibles.

• Position: Program and Working Group Meetings - Conference news - Brief article

The NBER's Program on Technological Change and Productivity Measurement met in Cambridge on December 5. Program Director Ernst R. Berndt of NBER and MIT and Wesley M. Cohen of NBER and Duke University organized the meeting. The following topics were discussed:

* James Bessen, Boston University, "More Machines or Better Machines"

* Rachel Soloveichik, Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Theatrical Movies as a Capital Asset"

* Jaison R. Abel, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Todd M. Gabe, University of Maine, "Human Capital and Economic Activity in Urban America"

* Dietmar Harhoff, University of Munich, "Patent Families, Equivalents, and Patent Value"

* Carol A. Robbins, Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Measuring Payments for the Supply and Use of Intellectual Property" Panel Discussion on "Useful and Needed Research on Measuring Economic Activity in Markets for Ideas, Innovation, and Other Intangibles"

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