Third, it may be asked whether spending on brand equity (brand value) or human
capital investments can be regarded as intangibles. The authors argue that indeed they
are intangibles, but they cannot be capitalized based on spending because the capital
value of that spending is unknown. For instance, launching a training programme and
redesigning a firm’s brand, image and logo are investments in intangibles in the sense
that the expected outcome is the creation of new skills and competencies and a higher
valuation of the firm. However, the capital value of these investments remains unclear;
it may even turn out to be null or negative. This uncertainty about the relationship
between spending and the true impact of the spending on competencies, brand equity
and – finally – production and profitability, means that the capitalization of spending
is completely heuristic. The authors therefore conclude that economic competencies in
the CHS framework are genuine spendings on intangibles, but the capitalization of
those spendings cannot be done by simple spending capitalization either by averages
or ad hoc[6].