The Influence of Reporting Intangible Capital on the Performance of Romanian Companies

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to identify the correlations between intangible capital and organisational performance, for the Romanian companies quoted in the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BSE section. Intangible capital was computed based on 13 criteria grouped into three components: human capital, relational capital, and innovation, and the financial performance of the company was studied through the return on assets (ROA), the return on equity (ROE), and the economic return (Re). In this article, the financial performance for Romanian companies is reflected by the goodwill, computed as the difference between the market capitalization and the net accounting asset of an entity, as well as by the market to book value (M/BV- the ratio between the market capitalization and the net accounting asset of the company). The article also investigates the existence of a correlation between the intangible capital of Romanian companies and the auditor contracted to audit the annual financial statements. The results of research show that between intangible capital and the positive goodwill of the studied companies, on the one hand, and the economic return, respectively the market to book value, on the other hand, there are direct correlations. At the same time, the value of intangible capital is, statistically, significantly higher in companies whose financial statements are audited by Big4 auditors and in companies that record profit.