Del 2017, ma l'ho notato solo adesso. jc A missing link in the analysis of global value chains: cross-border flows of intangible assets, taxation and related measurement implications Mr. Thomas Neubig* Mr. Sacha Wunsch-Vincent** Abstract The phenomenon of global fragmented production and associated trade in intermediate products, including intangible assets, has changed how economists study globalization and how new public policies are shaped. Understanding cross-border flows of disembodied knowledge, often associated with intellectual property (IP), is essential to analyzing how modern economies operate. Available data to document these international IP-related knowledge flows – namely cross-border payments for IP - are distorted by various factors. Tax planning by multinational enterprises has seriously distorted the measurement of cross- border IP flows, affected national measurement of imports, exports, GDP and productivity. The tax-induced mismeasurement could be more than 35% of global Charges for Use of Intellectual Property (CUIP), and greater for individual countries particularly high-tax-rate countries. International initiatives to address tax base erosion and profit shifting and other statistical initiatives on global value chains will improve future measurements of cross-border IP flows, improving the understanding of both the creation and uses of IP. Keywords: Global value chain, intellectual property, intangible assets, tax, base erosion, profit shifting, cross-border flows, charges for the use of intellectual property JEL classification: D23, E01, E22, F21, F23, H25, H26, L11, O3 Disclaimer The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Intellectual Property Organization or its member states. https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_econstat_wp_37.pdf