Intellectual capital disclosure media in Portugal

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare the internet and annual reports as media of intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) and analyse its determinants.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines ICD on the internet in 2009 and compares the internet and 2008 annual reports as disclosure media using content analysis. Non‐parametric statistical methods are used to analyse some factors which influence disclosure.FindingsPortuguese companies attribute greater importance to the internet. The analysis showed that size is significant in explaining ICD only in the case of annual reports. The results also indicated that industrial affiliation is only partially a factor explaining ICD.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is small. There may be content analysis issues associated with subjectivity in the coding process and the use of a limited content analysis method.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the scarce research on ICD by Portuguese companies by providing new empirical data. This paper is one of the first to investigate ICD both in annual reports and on the internet.