The impact of intellectual capital on companies' market value and financial performance

Abstract

Intellectual capital determines growth potential, affects above average returns, and is a source of competitive advantage for firms in an information economy. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between the intellectual capital and market and financial performance of companies listed on Belgrade Stock Exchange (BELEX) in Serbia. The research sample consisted of 42 enterprises that made BELEXline index. The period of the research covered five years (2010-2014). Two research hypotheses were tested and partially confirmed: the impact of the intellectual capital of Serbian listed firms on their market performance and on their financial performance. According to research results, human capital and physical capital positively affect market performance of companies. When analyzing financial performance, human capital significantly affects return on equity and return on assets, whereas structural capital affects neither market nor financial performance, except in the case of employee productivity. On the other hand, physical and financial capital of companies are less important for employee productivity, unlike the human and structural capital.