Intellectual capital reporting in a mandatory management report: the case of Germany
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships of company characteristics to intellectual capital (IC) reporting in a mandatory management report. Based on the relevant regulation in Germany, IC components of the mandatory management report can be characterised as being partially required, partially recommended and partially voluntary.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of 428 group management reports of listed German companies was conducted for required, recommended and voluntary IC reporting. To investigate the relationship of certain company characteristics to IC reporting, this study conducted a regression analysis considering company returns, size and industry.
Findings
The findings show that structural capital dominates total IC reporting in Germany. This observation is in contrast to prior literature, in which relational capital has been found to be most frequently reported. However within the sub-group of voluntary IC reporting in German companies, relational capital has the highest proportion. The regression results show that company returns show no effect on IC reporting, but size and industry group are significantly related to IC reporting.
Research limitations/implications
The findings indicate that IC reporting requirements and the relatively stringent German regulatory recommendations influence corporate IC reporting behaviour. The findings provide a basis for further discussion by standard setters regarding the extent to which requirements and recommendations on individual IC components seem to encourage IC reporting.
Originality/value
This study utilises the unique research setting in Germany with a mandated management report to distinguish between required, recommended and voluntary IC reporting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the participants of BAFA Doctoral Colloquium 2012 and FRBC Conference 2013 for their useful feedback. Furthermore, helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper by Professor Pauline Weetman are gratefully acknowledged.
Citation
Goebel, V. (2015), "Intellectual capital reporting in a mandatory management report: the case of Germany", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 702-720. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-02-2015-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited