Comparative Study: Tangible and Intangible Asset Pricing for Sale Purposes

Abstract:

Intangible together with tangible assets form a vital part of corporate property. Businesses have so far mainly concentrated on tangible assets which they have tried to make generate the highest possible profit. Strong economic competition, fierce competitive environment and continuous development of information and communication technologies have made the businesses partly shift their focus on the possession of certain intangible assets which have recently also become part of the traded products and services. As these intangible assets and rights of their use have increasingly become part of business transactions it is necessary to also focus on pricing of these assets. Tangible assets are material and their production generates direct and indirect costs per exactly definable calculation units. Companies map their competitors and systematically analyse requirements of their customers. Pricing of tangible assets is based on all these assumptions and the price originator disposes with a sufficient volume of related information. Intangible assets possess unique properties as concerns the nature of the assets. Specialized literature defines a number of methods of intangible asset pricing based on three basic approaches to pricing. Each of them tries to grasp the asset price on the basis of different specific characteristics. The present paper points out the need and purpose of intangible asset pricing, comparing the differences in the individual pricing methods applied to tangible final product and intangible asset to be sold.