Intangible Assests and Market Value: Evidence from Biotechnology Firms

We examine the relationship between the characteristics of the firms' knowledge base in terms of knowledge capital and knowledge integration and the stock market value of 99 firms active in biotechnology during the nineties. Panel data regression models show that our measure of knowledge integration better explains the variance of a firm's market value than the more conventional variable of knowledge capital. This econometric relationship becomes stronger as the technology cycle reaches more mature phases. Meanwhile, profitable and research-intensive firms reach higher levels of market value.