Financial statement informativeness and intellectual capital disclosure

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Maaloul ◽  
Daniel Zéghal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between financial statement informativeness (FSI) and intellectual capital disclosure (ICD). Design/methodology/approach – While FSI was measured as the explanatory power of financial information in explaining market value, ICD was collected through content analysis of annual reports. A sample of 126 US companies, divided into two groups – high-tech and low-tech companies – were used in this study. Empirical analysis was carried out using the Poisson regression method. Findings – The results show a negative (substitutive) relationship between FSI and ICD, especially in high-tech companies. This indicates that companies with low FSI disclose more information about their IC in annual reports. Practical implications – This study confirms the role of voluntary ICD as a solution towards mitigating the problem of the distortion of financial information due to the lack of accounting recognition of IC as an asset in the financial statements. Originality/value – This is the first empirical study to analyse the relationship between FSI and ICD. Therefore, it serves as feedback to the regulators and standard-setters that recently published recommendations on voluntarily disclosing IC.

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-282
Author(s):  
Mohammad A. Karim ◽  
Sayan Sarkar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of auditors in financial statement readability. Using a simple proxy for financial statement obfuscation (number of footnotes), the authors examine the relationship between auditor quality, financial statement readability and earnings persistence. Design/methodology/approach The authors use regression analysis to test two hypotheses. In the first hypothesis, the authors investigate whether firms audited by Big 4 auditors have a lower number of footnotes than firms audited by non-Big 4 auditors. In the second hypothesis, the authors show that the firms with more footnotes have less earning persistence in comparison to the firms with less footnotes. Findings The authors find that firms audited by Big 4 auditors have fewer footnotes than firms audited by non-Big 4 auditors, and a larger number of footnotes reduces earnings persistence one-year and two-years ahead of the financial statement, although a larger number of footnotes does not reduce earning persistence when firms use Big 4 auditors. Overall, firms that use non-Big 4 auditors tend to obfuscate annual reports by using more footnotes and, in turn, reduce earnings persistence. Originality/value This is the first paper that has used number of footnotes in 10Ks as a proxy for financial statement readability. This paper shows how auditors’ reputation plays a key role in the readability of the financial statement. Prior studies related to readability have ignored the importance of auditors’ quality with respect to the readability of financial statements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Goebel

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers for voluntary intellectual capital (IC) reporting based on agency theory. This study responds to calls for critical investigations of IC reporting utilising Goebel’s (2015a) IC measuring approach to investigate the role of IC value and mispricing for IC reporting.Design/methodology/approachA mandatory management report offers a unique research setting in Germany. The content analysis results of 428 German management reports are used in a regression analysis with leverage, ownership diffusion, IC value and mispricing. Additionally, a propensity score matching approach examines the relationship between IC reporting and IC value.FindingsThe regression results show that companies use voluntary IC reporting to encounter mispricing. IC reporting is negatively associated with leverage, whereas ownership diffusion and IC value show no significant results. The propensity score matching approach is also not significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to strengthening and testing agency theory for IC reporting. As mispricing is identified to play an important role for IC reporting, IC research should account for mispricing.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest to reopen a discussion on the declared aims of the German management report and the international integrated reporting model to provide information on value creation, as IC value shows no link to IC reporting.Originality/valueThis study innovatively links IC reporting to IC value and mispricing to investigate drivers for voluntary IC reporting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-87
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nawaz ◽  
Alias Mat Nor ◽  
Habibah Tolos

Purpose-The Objective of this study is to investigate the moderating role of Intellectual Capital between the relationship of Bank internal factor and Credit Risk in Islamic banks of Pakistan. Design/Methodology-Panel data are obtained from annual reports of 4 Islamic banks of Pakistan from the period 2006 to 2017. These are analyzed using hierarchical regression techniques, via Eviews 9 software. Findings-The results showed that intellectual capital significantly moderates the relationship of bank internal variable and credit risk in Islamic banks in Pakistan. Practical Implications-The study found that Intellectual Capital is a very important driver for credit risk. The investment in Intellectual Capital may lower the credit risk which will further help in the growth and sustainability of the bank and hence the growth in the economy. The results of the study will be useful for bank management, policy maker, and regulator and academia for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1062-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Wuu Joe ◽  
Wei-Ting Hung ◽  
Chou-Kang Chiu ◽  
Chieh-Peng Lin ◽  
Ya-Chu Hsu

Purpose To deepen our understanding about the development of turnover intention, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model that explains how ethical climate influences turnover intention based on the ethical climate theory and social identity theory. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses of this study were statistically tested using a survey of working professionals from Taiwan’s high-tech industry. Of the 400 questionnaires distributed to the working professionals from five large high-tech firms in a well-known science park in Northern Taiwan, 352 usable questionnaires were returned for a questionnaire response rate of 88 percent. Findings The test results of this study first show that all three dimensions of ethical climate (i.e. instrumental, benevolent, and principled) are indirectly related to turnover intention via the mediation of firm attractiveness. Moreover, instrumental and benevolent climate directly relate to turnover intention, whereas benevolent climate negatively moderates the relationship between principled climate and firm attractiveness. Originality/value This study finds that benevolent climate plays a dual role as an antecedent and a moderator in the formation of turnover intention, complementing prior studies that merely concentrate on the single role of benevolent climate as either an antecedent or a moderator. The effect of principled climate on organizational identification complements the theoretical discussion by Victor and Cullen (1987) about deontology in which an ethical workplace climate (such as legitimacy) drives employees to invest in identity attachments to the organization and influences their future career decision (e.g. turnover).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Hassan Mohammadzadeh Moghadam ◽  
Zohreh Hajiha

Purpose The present study aims to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and the readability of financial statements with the mediating role of management characteristics of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In other words, this research tries to find the answer to whether intellectual capital can positively affect the readability of financial statements. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate regression model was used to test the hypotheses for this purpose. The research hypotheses were tested using a sample of 1,309 observations listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2018 and a multiple regression model based on panel data and fixed-effects models. Findings The results indicate that intellectual capital has a positive and significant relationship with the readability of financial statements, which means that with increasing intellectual capital in companies, financial statements’ readability also increases. Based on the hypothesis test results, it has been determined that narcissism, accrual and real earnings management have a negative effect on the relationship between intellectual capital and the readability of financial statements. Originality/value Since the present study examines such an issue in emerging markets, it provides users, analysts and legal entities with useful information about management’s inherent and acquired characteristics that significantly impact the purchase of audit opinion. This study’s results also contribute to developing science and knowledge in this field and close the literature gap.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-256
Author(s):  
Tuan Azma Fatiema Tuan Ibrahim ◽  
Hafiza Aishah Hashim ◽  
Akmalia Mohamad Ariff

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between ethical values and performance in the context of the banking sector in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Based on the philanthropic model, this study posits that firms undertaking zakat and charity are ethical firms. Zakat disclosure index (ZDI) and charity disclosure index (CDI) were constructed to measure ethical values. This study hypothesises that ethical values are positively associated with bank performance. Ethical values (i.e. CDI and ZDI) and financial performance data (i.e. return on assets) were collected from the disclosures made in the annual reports of 50 banks for a period of five years (2010-2014). Findings A positive association was found between zakat disclosure and bank performance. The results indicate that higher zakat disclosure is associated with greater bank performance. However, no relationship was found between charity disclosure and bank performance. Research limitations/implications Considering the limitation of the index used in this study, other dimensions such as corporate governance, sustainability, products and environment can be considered in the development of index to measure ethical values in future studies. Originality/value This study offers additional explanation on the relationship between ethical values and performance by examining the role of zakat disclosures that characterize the unique aspects of Malaysian companies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
A.A. Ousama ◽  
Mashael Thaar Al-Mutairi ◽  
A.H. Fatima

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the intellectual capital (IC) information reported in the annual reports and market value of the companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a panel data collected from the annual reports and Bloomberg database for six years, specifically the periods 2010-2012 and 2016-2018. The total sample consists of 252 observations. The theoretical framework was developed in reference to the resource-based theory. The regression model is based on Ohlson’s model, which has been modified by including IC information. Findings The study found that there is a significant relationship between IC information and firm market value. This finding indicates that companies report their IC to help the stakeholders (e.g. shareholders, investors) to understand the real value of the company (which includes IC values). Practical implications The shift to a knowledge-based economy (KBE) has made knowledge a driver for economic growth, and it has become more important than capital, land and labour. This shift makes IC and resources vital for companies to create wealth, value and gain competitive advantage. The State of Qatar plans to transform its economy to a KBE in its “Qatar Vision 2030”. The findings of the study show that the companies have started to depend more on IC to contribute to transforming Qatar’s economy to a KBE. Originality/value This study could be considered a pioneer study to examine the association of IC disclosure and firm value in Qatar. Furthermore, prior literature has mixed findings, which justifies further investigation of IC’s effect on market value, particularly in the emerging economy of Qatar.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Saad Ahmed ◽  
Jia Guozhu ◽  
Shujaat Mubarik ◽  
Mumtaz Khan ◽  
Essa Khan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the mediating role of potential and realized absorptive capacity in intellectual capital (IC) and business performance. It also investigates the direct impact of the components of IC on business performance. Design/methodology/approach Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the effect of IC dimensions on performance and to analyze the mediating role of absorptive capacity in this relationship. Data were collected from 192 managers using a survey questionnaire with Likert scale items. Findings The findings of the study show that potential absorptive capacity does not intervene in the relationship between the components of IC and those of business performance. However, realized absorptive capacity, measured as the transformation and exploitation of knowledge, played a positive mediating role in the relationship between the dimensions of IC and those of business performance. Social capital was also noted as a weak predictor of business performance, while human capital and organizational capital had a profound positive influence. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on IC by examining the role of realized and potential absorptive capacity in the relationship between IC components and firm performance. This research also helps practitioners recognize the importance of transformation and the exploitation of knowledge for business performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Agostini ◽  
Anna Nosella

Purpose In today’s knowledge economy the ability to innovate and develop new products is a key factor to sustain firm performance. Within this context, analysing the role of different components of intellectual capital (IC) becomes of foremost importance, as well as an under-investigated issue for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of human, organisational and relational capital (RC) on radical innovation performance (RIP), as well as to examine whether organisational capital (OC) and RC mediate the relationship between human capital (HC) and RIP and whether OC moderates the relationship between RC and RIP. Design/methodology/approach The methodology consisted of a factor analysis and different regression models to test for mediation and moderation. The analyses are carried out on a sample of 150 micro firms and SMEs involved in the production of machinery or instruments and located in Italy. Findings Results show that HC is directly associated to RIP, as well as OC and RC that totally mediate the relationship between HC and RIP. Moreover, OC positively moderates the relationship between RC and RIP. Originality/value This study is particularly interesting because it adopts an overarching perspective on IC testing the interplay between the different components of IC. In addition, it focusses on the SME context which is under-investigated as far as IC and performance measurement is concerned.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Massaro ◽  
Francesca Dal Mas ◽  
Nick Bontis ◽  
Bill Gerrard

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen resource-based view theory by analyzing how intellectual capital (IC) affects performance in temporary teams and by showing the moderating role of integrative mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The research context focuses on 153 national teams of football (NTF), also referred to as national soccer teams, as an example of temporary groups. A partial least squares (PLS) methodology was utilized on a data set built from transfermarkt.com and FIFA world rankings. Three main hypotheses were developed and tested using first a PLS and then an OLS approach. Findings The results show how IC contributes to performance, extending the findings of previous studies to the context of temporary teams. Additionally, the results show how some integrative mechanisms such as assembly decisions and team leader experience influence temporary team performance by creating an interaction effect with existing IC. Originality/value This study contributes to IC theories for three reasons. First, it applies IC research to a specific research context: temporary teams, where specific organizational capabilities are required to coordinate resources. Second, the study analyzes the role of integrative mechanisms as moderators of the relationship between IC and performance in temporary teams. Third, the study focuses on NTF as an example of temporary teams.


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