The relation of intellectual capital disclosure strategies and market value in two political settings

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the political setting (civil war versus temporary truce) in a country has an influence on firms' current narrative, visual, and numerical intellectual capital disclosure being included in the current market value of equity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using content analysis for data generation, this study identifies narrative, visual, and numerical intellectual capital disclosure in firms' annual reports. Financial data were obtained from firms' annual reports and the stock exchange. Fixed effect panel regression was conducted separately for the civil war period and temporary truce period.

Findings

The paper finds that during the period entirely beset by civil war, the current market value of equity includes net book value and current earnings only, and does not include narrative, visual, or numerical intellectual capital disclosure. During the period of temporary truce, the current market value of equity includes net book value, current earnings, and narrative disclosure, but not visual or numerical intellectual capital disclosure.

Practical implications

The findings provide insights into the effectiveness of disclosure strategies in politically unstable environments.

Originality/value

This study analyses the disclosure strategies in a civil war and temporary truce context.

Citation

Abeysekera, I. (2011), "The relation of intellectual capital disclosure strategies and market value in two political settings", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 319-338. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691931111123449