Intellectual capital disclosure in The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. A longitudinal and comparative study
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930510611148 |
| Published date | 01 September 2005 |
| Date | 01 September 2005 |
| Pages | 417-426 |
| Author | S.N. Vandemaele,P.G.M.C. Vergauwen,A.J. Smits |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,HR & organizational behaviour,Information & knowledge management |
Intellectual capital disclosure
in The Netherlands, Sweden
and the UK
A longitudinal and comparative study
S.N. Vandemaele
Faculty of Applied Economic Sciences, Limburgs Universitair Centrum,
Diepenbeek, Belgium
P.G.M.C. Vergauwen
Faculty of Economics & Business Administration, Universiteit Maastricht,
Maastricht, The Netherlands and The Business School, The University of
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, and
A.J. Smits
Master of International Business, Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht,
The Netherlands
Abstract
Purpose – Intellectual capital (IC) disclosure is investigated over three years covering the IT bubble
and its aftermath in three different countries (The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK).
Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis is applied to the annual reports of the sample
companies; 180 annual reports from The Netherlands, Sweden and UK are analysed in order to make
an inter-country comparison. Three measurement years (1998, 2000 and 2002) were chosen in order to
analyse the trend in disclosure over the years.
Findings – The study reveals that the Swedish sample companies disclose more, on average, about
IC than Dutch and UK ones. In general, there is an upward trend in the average amount of IC disclosure
over the observation period, although this trend is slightly reversed in Sweden over the period
2000-2002. This could be an indication of convergence in disclosure practices (the average amount of
IC disclosure) in the countries under scrutiny.
Originality/value – The paper shows convergence in IC disclosure practices in the countries under
study. This could point towards the establishment of a standard of the IC disclosure level amongst
companies. The findings in this paper are of value to firms that are already disclosing IC or are
considering doing so.
Keywords Intellectualcapital, Disclosure, Annual reports,The Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Companies increasingly rely on intellectual capital (IC) in their value creation pro cess,
rather than on traditional production factors such as physical and financial capital.
Investors are generally well-informed about the latter two production factors through
the traditional financial report. There is a growing agreement, however, that
information deficiencies arise from the shortcomings of the traditional accounting
system in reflecting the value of IC (Lev and Zarowin, 1999). Companies can, of course,
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
Intellectual
capital disclosure
417
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 6 No. 3, 2005
pp. 417-426
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/14691930510611148
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