Financial statement informativeness and intellectual capital disclosure : An empirical analysis

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.