Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance of Listed Firms in Nigeria: Moderating Role of Corporate Governance

Abstract

The low performance of Nigerian firms despite investment in intellectual capital is a major concern. While studies have shown that corporate governance practices strengthens the subsisting relationship between investment in intellectual capital and performance in the developed economies, this moderating effect in Nigeria is yet to be adequately explored as research focus is limited to possible effects of intellectual capital and performance. It is against this background, this study investigated the moderating role of corporate governance on the relationship between intellectual capital and performance of listed non-financial companies in Nigeria. The study adopted ex-post facto research design, and data were drawn from the audited annual reports of fifty (50) listed non-financial firms for a period of 2007 to 2017. Multiple regression techniques were employed to test the relationship among the variables. The results of the study revealed that both intellectual capital and corporate governance drive financial performance as the relationship is found significant in all components. The study concluded that corporate governance moderated the effect of investment in intellectual capital on financial performance. The study recommends that Board of directors should adopt measurable corporate governance mechanism which strengthens and helps in investment strategy that increases and improves performance. Also, there is need to entrench corporate governance as a control strategy and impetus towards attaining organization’s goals.