Towards a better understanding of the reporting of intagible assets and intellectual capital: portuguese evidence

This thesis adopts a positivist approach and utilises data analysis and content analysis methods to investigate the reporting of intangible assets and intellectual capital in the annual reports and sustainability reports of Portuguese companies. Among the principal findings is that after controlling for fixed effects, recognised intangible assets are value-relevant to investors and that the value relevance of traditional accounting numbers increases when complemented with recognised intangible assets and, in particular, when complemented with unrecognised intangible assets. This thesis also validates and extends the results of prior empirical studies of the factors which influence the voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital information in company annual reports. Additionally, the findings provide strong support for argument that voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital information can be explained by stakeholder theory and resource-based perspectives. Another conclusion is that sustainability reporting guidelines appear to implicitly promote, and to be conducive, to the reporting of intellectual capital. Consequently, a sustainability reporting could be a starting point for determining the extent of use of intellectual capital reporting. This thesis renders a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of accounting and financial reporting for intangible assets and intellectual capital, especially in Portugal. It advances appreciation of the applicability and relevance of disclosure-related theories and provides information to aid reform of financial regulation in Portugal.

Name thesis:degree_name

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Empresariais - Ramo de Conhecimento em Contabilidade

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Oliveira, Lídia

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Rodrigues, Lúcia Lima
• Craig, Russell

Statement dc:rights

• restrictedAccess

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1822/8917

OAI record oai:identifier

http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Arepositorium.uminho.pt%3A1822%2F8917