Purpose – We must acknowledge the importance of intangibles in today’s economies and the controversy over the accounting and reporting of these assets. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize the lessons learned from research to date and identify gaps in that research that would be useful to academics and practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review was conducted after an analysis of the most important academic databases in the period of 1990-2013: ABI Inform Complete, CSIS, EconLit, ISOC, Journal Citation Reports, Scopus, Emerald, Springer, and Google Scholar. Findings – The authors offer a summary of the main gaps in the literature on intellectual capital disclosures, among which the authors perceive a need for increased qualitative or explanatory research, which would allow further analysis of such decisions. Research limitations/implications – Specifically, the main problem encountered in the research on voluntary disclosure of intangibles appears to relate to the type of methodology used, which is usually quantitative or descriptive. Practical implications – Given that the principal limitations in the field of the disclosure of intangibles have been discussed, the authors conclude by indicating the principal directions for future research. Social implications – Qualitative analysis is absent in the literature the authors reviewed, and considered it fundamental to understanding this type of disclosure. In fact, the development of future lines of research could provide better-quality intangible asset reporting. Originality/value – Although there are previous studies on this topic, the authors believe that the main contribution of this study is to offer an integrated framework of existing findings concerning decisions by companies to disclose information on intangibles, a topic on which previous literature is sparse.
Purpose In this paper, the authors analyze the use of content analysis in disclosing voluntarily information on intangible assets, the intangible assets disclosures (IAD). The purpose of this paper is to conduct a structured literature review (SLR) that assesses the possibilities and limitations of content analysis. Design/methodology/approach To that end, the authors analyze the existing literature on the topic in the main international databases. In all, 74 empirical articles utilizing content analysis as a research methodology for IAD were reviewed. Regarding the selection of sources, the authors should indicate that the SLR performed includes academic studies published in journals or presented at conferences and that are always subject to a double process of anonymous review. Findings The obtained results indicate that despite the frequent use of content analysis in studies on IAD, its use does not meet all expectations. Research limitations/implications The study synthesizes the research on content analysis for the case of information on intangible assets, offering an updated and global framework for future researchers through the SLR. Practical implications Among other problems, the authors found its excessive emphasis on the amount disclosed in the annual report, ignoring other reports in which more information regarding intangible assets is available, such as in the case of the sustainability reports. Furthermore, the use of very different coding systems and its exclusive use without being combined with other methodologies are detected. These aspects affect the quality problems of the sources used, which directly results in the utility of the evidenced findings. Social implications These conclusions allow the authors to conclude on the need to open different lines of study that review the use of content analysis in this topic. Originality/value The work focuses on the quality of disclosures more so than on the quantity, offering a critical view that summarizes the utility of the employment of content analysis for this type of disclosure and its implications for future research on this topic. Despite previous studies, the authors highlight the new insights revealed from IAD research, especially since the seminal paper of Dumay and Cai (2014).
There is a major interest in analyzing the role of intangible assets on sustainable development, which is a topic under the auspices of the so-called 5th stage of research. Cooperatives are enterprises directly committed to sustainable development due to their dual nature–economic and social. This paper is based on a literature review and proposes a theoretical model based on intangible assets for understanding the role of cooperatives as drivers of sustainable development. The findings show that these assets are involved in regional competitiveness and especially evident when considering cooperatives. It can be concluded that, when focusing the attention on cooperatives, it is useful to use a multilevel approach (micro and macro levels) to understand the whole process of interaction between intangible assets and sustainable development. The model aims to contribute to a line of research of great potential, but is also a practical tool for reflecting on cooperativism and for government agencies.
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