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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the financial consequences of the level of human capital (HC) information disclosed by firms through integrated reports. Specifically, this work examines the effect of HC information on the cost of capital and firm value.Design/methodology/approachA manual content analysis is used to measure the level of HC information contained in integrated reports. A fixed-effects regression model is used to analyse 375 observations (a balanced panel of 125 firms for the period 2017–2019) and test the financial consequences of HC disclosure.FindingsThe empirical outcomes indicate that HC disclosure has a significant and negative effect on the cost of capital and a positive impact on firm value. Our results show that companies can reduce investors' perceived firm risk by improving HC disclosure, leading to a lower cost of capital. Moreover, our findings support the notion that increased levels of HC disclosure are linked to firms' improved access to external financial resources, consequently enhancing firm value.Originality/valueThis study is the first contribution to examine the financial consequences of HC disclosure and is one of the first to examine the level of HC information within integrated reports.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to find evidence of the impact of intellectual capital on firm value, and, in turn, enhance the existing literature which lacks consensus on it. By employing some distinctive proxies for human capital, innovation capital, customer capital and process capital, this study might provide valuable information for firms to make strategic decisions.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Tobin's Q to represent firm value and various variables to be the proxies for intellectual capitals. By utilizing firm-year observations, this study applies panel data models first, and then Petersen regression models for further investigation to enhance the robustness of the empirical results.FindingsFirm value is affected positively by the average net profit per employee as well as goodwill and intangible assets. This is because firms having employees with abundant knowledge will possess advantage for innovation, and the excellent reputation, a part of goodwill for oriental firms, would encourage people to consume and invest more.Research limitations/implicationsThe constraint of data resource is the main limitation. With the limited scales and as an emerging market of Taiwan Stock Exchange, it is not confirmed whether the results are appropriate for the developed markets. Nevertheless, firms should make efforts on developing intellectual capital and corporate governance for operating businesses with competitiveness and safety.Originality/valueSince capable employees enhance the innovation, innovation improves customer's satisfaction and good customer relationship increases the sales; this study illustrates that for expanding businesses, firms should make more efforts on developing intellectual capital.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship among intellectual capital (IC), financial capital (FC), firm value (V), and value creation (VC) in different business cycles (BC) for the conduct of strategic management that will maintain stable values and further increase V. Design/methodology/approach – This research cites ICs as “other information” to combine ICs and the Ohlson model. Information provided by various capitals is validated by multiple regression analysis. Multi-group analysis is performed to test whether the coefficient is moderated by BC. Findings – Results indicate the significant information of ICs and FC, and the contingency perspective of BC. The value relevance of ICs is moderated by BC. Prosperity has more explanatory capacities, and recession ICs yield more incremental information. Research limitations/implications – VC is influenced by both ICs and FC. Besides, the macroeconomic situation should also be considered in strategic management and VC management. Practical implications – In addition to ICs and FC, the macroeconomic situation must be taken into account when conducting strategic management, valuation management, investment decision, or industrial policy. Social implications – Results indicate a contingency of BC, which can be a reference for enterprises to create higher V, for investors to make appropriate investment, as well as for governments to formulate sound industrial policies. Originality/value – This paper applies BC to explore the value relevance of ICs and FC, leverages two models to represent V and VC, and cites complete four aspects of IC as “other information” to combine ICs and Ohlson model.

Purpose – With a view to enabling organisations provide a clear understanding of firm value creation, several national and supranational institutions have produced guidelines and frameworks for externally reporting intellectual capital (IC). In many cases regulators, the accounting profession and accounting scholars have driven these initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to summarise, analyse and compare the guidelines and frameworks that have been developed with a focus on externally reporting IC. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the assumptions underpinning 20 guidelines and frameworks that have been developed with a focus on reporting IC using a self-constructed framework. Findings – The review resulted in a comparison of IC reporting guidelines and framework based on target audience, role of IC within the organisational strategic management process and reporting IC indicator. It provides an understanding of the state of the art in relation to external reporting of IC. Practical implications – The insights provided by the comparison of the guidelines and frameworks are likely to be helpful for practitioners wanting to adopt or develop an IC reporting model for their organisation. Policy-makers will find these insights beneficial when attempting to refine existing frameworks and guidelines for reporting IC and in developing new ones to suit various circumstances. Also, this paper provides a useful review for academics. Originality/value – This is the first paper to provide a review of a large number of business reporting guidelines and frameworks with a focus on IC. It is a valuable reference for practitioners, policy-makers and academics on IC reporting models.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not listed Turkish companies’ voluntary disclosure practices are value‐relevant in the capital market.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 129 manufacturing companies listed in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) for the year 2010. Data regarding voluntary disclosure level and other variables have been collected by analyzing the contents of annual reports. Through multiple regression analysis, the authors investigated whether or not voluntary disclosure level impacts firm value.FindingsThe main finding of the study is that voluntary disclosure is value‐relevant; i.e. impacts firm value. This implies that market participants value voluntary disclosure. The more information firms disclose voluntarily, the higher value they have in the eyes of investors. Therefore, this finding might be accepted as a signal to corporations to disclose more information to the stakeholders. However, the finding varied based on the dependent variable used; hence, the result was not supported by all models.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this paper are based on the study conducted on the ISE including manufacturing industry. Thus, the results might not be valid for non‐listed and non‐manufacturing companies.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of studies regarding how the marketplace perceives voluntary disclosure. The paper evaluates comprehensively the value relevance of overall voluntary disclosure as well as of 12 sub‐categories of disclosure. It contributes to the relevant literature, particularly in an emerging market context.

PurposePrevious empirical studies on the nature of the relationship between ownership and corporate value have produced mixed results. Meanwhile, effective management of knowledge‐based intellectual capital has become a key factor to corporate success, both in firm performance and corporate value. Thus, this paper aims to reexamine the link among ownership, proxies for intellectual capital and corporate value in the emerging Taiwan market.Design/methodology/approachUsing two‐stage least square estimation of panel data in a simultaneous equations framework, the authors focus on: What is the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value through the mediating role of intellectual capital (IC)? Does ownership directly or indirectly (i.e. via IC) influence corporate value? Does it persist across industries?FindingsThe empirical results suggest that the relationship between ownership and corporate value mainly depends on industry characteristics and the nature of proxies for intellectual capital in the emerging Taiwanese market. Further, the impacts of ownership on corporate value in more traditional industries are even stronger, that is, there exists the direct impact of ownership mechanism on corporate value. Notably, for the high‐tech firms, ownership can indirectly affect corporate value through the moderating role of intellectual capital.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication reminds managers and investors not merely focusing on ownership mechanisms as the main value‐creation information, but a thorough review of IC should be made in order to avoid making incorrect decisions. The limitations suggest areas for further research. For instance, it is important to extend the role of intellectual capital (i.e. to employ other variables to proxy for IC) in exploring the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value.Originality/valueThe paper potentially adds to ongoing research by extending the importance of the concept of IC in assessing the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value.

Purpose – Research on the use/disclosure of intellectual capital (IC) information by sell‐side analysts, using content analysis of their reports, is growing. This paper aims to establish the importance of this perspective in understanding the role of IC in communicating firm value, to introduce possible theoretical frameworks to interpret the findings of such studies, and to propose methodological developments.Design/methodology/approach – The paper argues for the need to look at IC from the perspective of sell‐side analysts, and then advocates the use of several theoretical frameworks to enrich current understanding of the role of IC as it is used/disclosed by sell‐side analysts. Current methodologies used in this type of research are critiqued with a view to proposing multiple research methods.Findings – Looking at IC from the sell‐side analyst perspective helps us to understand how the capital market appreciates this information. However, IC information that analysts disclose cannot be taken at its fac...

PurposeThe paper seeks to investigate the key drivers and level of voluntary disclosures in biotechnology company annual reports.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses an intellectual capital disclosure index score of voluntary disclosures in a large sample of listed biotechnology companies, and tests the relationship between voluntary disclosures of intangible firm value with traditional agency theory variables. The relationships are tested statistically using correlation and multiple‐regression analysis.FindingsThe key drivers of voluntary intellectual capital disclosures were the level of board independence, firm age, level of leverage and firm size. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that board independence, leverage and size had a significant relationship with the level of voluntary intellectual capital disclosure. Separate regression controlling for large‐sized and small‐sized firms demonstrated that voluntary intellectual capital disclosure was only driven by board independence and the levels of firm leverage in large firms. Small firms did not demonstrate this relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of this research are that smaller biotechnology companies' managers are not motivated by external debt‐holder demands to make voluntary disclosures about intangible firm value. In addition, large biotechnology companies, which are better able to establish independent board oversight, appear more effective at driving voluntary intellectual capital disclosures, perhaps in response to greater demand by owners. A limitation of this study is its Australian context and that data is analysed only from 2005 financial year annual reports.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge this is an original paper whose findings have valuable implications for managing intellectual capital at the firm level. The paper clearly demonstrates that disclosures about intangible firm value is being driven by traditional agency theory variables and more contemporary corporate governance issues, and that small firms may be ignoring the importance of disclosing more about their intellectual capital.

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the contributions of top management teams’ (TMTs) social capital to the creation of business value.Design/methodology/approach – Least‐squares regression is used to estimate the relationship between TMT social capital and Tobin's Q, while controlling for other firm‐ and industry‐specific explanatory variables.Findings – The empirical results show that it is TMT extra‐business group (but not intra‐business group) directorate ties that are viewed as valuable strategic assets by the marketplace, and the benefits of extra‐business group directorate ties mainly come from the relationships’ greater prominence, but not from the relationships’ wider span or better position.Research limitations/implications – Past research has tended to focus on “who executives are” – their background, personality, etc. Since the results show that executives’ extra‐business group social capital is strategically valuable, future research should take note that “whom executives know” – i.e. their s...

The rise of the “new economy”, one principally driven by information and knowledge, international competitiveness and changing patterns of interpersonal activities is attributed to the increased prominence of intellectual capital (IC) as a management and research topic. There is indeed much to support the assertion that IC in the new century will be instrumental in the determination of enterprise value and national economic performance. Stemming from this awareness of the value of know‐how is a drive to establish new metrics that can be used to record and report the value attributable to knowledge within an organisation. The task has been given impetus by the fact that early work appearing in the accounting financial reports of Swedish companies involves the application of non‐financial metrics and focuses on intangible assets. This represents a significant departure from traditional financial and management accounting orthodoxy.

The rise of the “new economy”, one principally driven by information and knowledge, is attributed to the increased prominence of intellectual capital (IC) as a business and research topic. Intellectual capital is implicated in recent economic, managerial, technological, and sociological developments in a manner previously unknown and largely unforeseen. Whether these developments are viewed through the filter of the information society, the knowledge‐based economy, the network society, or innovation, there is much to support the assertion that IC is instrumental in the determination of enterprise value and national economic performance. First, we seek to review some of the most significant extant literature on intellectual capital and its developed path. The emphasis is on important theoretical and empirical contributions relating to the measurement and reporting of intellectual capital. The second part of this paper identifies possible future research issues into the nature, impact and value of intellectual management and reporting.