Value relevance on intellectual capital valuation methods: the role of corporate governance

Abstract

Development of a knowledge economy has changed the main value of a firm from traditional physical assets to intellectual capital or intangible assets. Therefore, the accumulation and management of intellectual capital is the competitive advantage of knowledge-based industries. Intellectual capital valuation is the essential factor in firm valuation. Scholars have presented valuation methods of intellectual capital, such as Tobin’s Q, Knowledge Capital Earnings (KCE), and Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC). Management power of modern firms is separate from ownership, and easily occurs in the agency problem; therefore, firms must implement corporate governance to solve this problem. Researchers have presented that a complete appraisal of the firm value includes the effect of corporate governance. This study is the first to apply multi-regression models to examine value relevance on valuation methods of intellectual capital, and to further analyze the role of corporate governance for the information and electronic industry in Taiwan. The results show that Tobin’s Q, KCE, and VAIC have a positive relationship to firm value. The characteristic of director board, including board size, the ratio of outside directors, employed independent directors, and the manager concurrently the director, are correlated with the valuation of intellectual capital.