Purpose

The moderating role of digital services trade restrictiveness to the effects of national intellectual capital on economic growth has been largely ignored in the existing literature. As such, this paper aims to examine how national intellectual capital and digital services trade restrictiveness affect economic growth. In addition, the moderating role of digital services trade restrictiveness in the relationship between national intellectual capital and economic growth is also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, a sample comprising 62 countries worldwide is used. The national intellectual capital for each country is computed using the index of national intellectual capital. Data pertaining to digital services trade restrictiveness are extracted from the digital services trade restrictiveness index (OECD Statistics on International Trade in Services database). To ensure the robustness of the findings, the generalized method of moments (GMM) is used in the analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study confirm that national intellectual capital supports economic growth. Accumulating intellectual capital at the national level plays an essential role in supporting economic growth. The authors also find evidence to confirm that digital services trade restrictiveness negatively affects economic growth, particularly for high-income and lower-middle-income countries. Interestingly, digital services trade restrictiveness deteriorates economic growth across countries globally, except for upper-middle-income countries, with a weak effect. The empirical results also confirm that the joint effects between national intellectual capital and digital services trade restrictiveness are negative and significant. As such, findings from our analysis suggest that digital services trade restrictiveness moderates the relationship between national intellectual capital and economic growth.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide valuable implications for policymakers to formulate and implement policies aiming to improve national intellectual capital to support sustainable economic growth. In addition, limiting digital services trade restrictiveness across countries appears to provide both direct and indirect effects in enhancing sustainable economic growth.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study conducted to examine the moderating role of digital services trade restrictiveness on the national intellectual capital – economic growth nexus.

中文翻译：

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研究国家智力资本对经济增长的影响：数字服务贸易限制重要吗？

 目的

数字服务贸易对国家智力资本对经济增长影响的限制起调节作用，在现有文献中基本上被忽视了。因此，本文旨在研究国家智力资本和数字服务贸易限制如何影响经济增长。此外，还研究了数字服务贸易限制在国家智力资本与经济增长之间关系中的调节作用。

设计/方法/方法

在本研究中，使用了由全球 62 个国家/地区组成的样本。每个国家的国家智力资本是使用国家智力资本指数计算的。与数字服务贸易限制相关的数据摘自数字服务贸易限制指数（OECD 国际服务贸易统计数据库）。为了确保结果的稳健性，在分析中使用了广义矩量法 （GMM）。

 发现

这项研究的结果证实，国家智力资本支持经济增长。在国家层面积累知识资本在支持经济增长方面发挥着至关重要的作用。作者还发现证据证实，数字服务贸易限制对经济增长产生负面影响，尤其是对高收入和中低收入国家而言。有趣的是，数字服务贸易限制对全球各国的经济增长造成了恶化，但中高收入国家除外，但效果较弱。实证结果还证实，国家智力资本和数字服务贸易限制之间的共同效应是消极的和显著的。因此，我们的分析结果表明，数字服务贸易限制缓和了国家智力资本与经济增长之间的关系。

 实际意义

本研究的结果为政策制定者制定和实施旨在改善国家智力资本以支持可持续经济增长的政策提供了宝贵的启示。此外，限制各国的数字服务贸易限制似乎对促进可持续经济增长产生了直接和间接的影响。

 原创性/价值

据作者所知，这是首次进行实证研究，以检验数字服务贸易限制对国家智力资本-经济增长关系的调节作用。