IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/accfor/v35y2011i4p262-274.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The accounting treatment of intangibles – A critical review of the literature

Author

Listed:
  • Zéghal, Daniel
  • Maaloul, Anis

Abstract

Intangible investments have become the main value creators for many companies and economic sectors. However, these investments are rarely recognized as assets by current accounting standards. We provide a critical review of the literature on the consequences of this lack of accounting recognition of intangibles for the value-relevance of financial information, resource allocation in the capital market, growth of intangible investments, and the firm's market value. We then review recent empirical research on voluntary disclosure of information on intangibles. Our survey concludes that disclosure can considered as a solution to the negative consequences of non-recognition of intangibles in financial statements.

Suggested Citation

  • Zéghal, Daniel & Maaloul, Anis, 2011. "The accounting treatment of intangibles – A critical review of the literature," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 262-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accfor:v:35:y:2011:i:4:p:262-274
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2011.04.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0155998211000196
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.accfor.2011.04.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acharya, Viral V. & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2005. "Asset pricing with liquidity risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 375-410, August.
    2. Brown, Stephen & Lo, Kin & Lys, Thomas, 1999. "Use of R2 in accounting research: measuring changes in value relevance over the last four decades," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 83-115, December.
    3. Baruch Lev, 2003. "Remarks on the measurement, valuation, and reporting of intangible assets," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Sep, pages 17-22.
    4. Brennan, Michael J. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 1996. "Market microstructure and asset pricing: On the compensation for illiquidity in stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 441-464, July.
    5. David S. Gelb, 2002. "Intangible Assets and Firms' Disclosures: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3&4), pages 457-476.
    6. Anne Cazavan-Jeny, 2004. "Le ratio market-to-book et la reconnaissance des immatériels – une étude du marché français," Comptabilité - Contrôle - Audit, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 10(2), pages 99-124.
    7. Carol Corrado & Charles Hulten & Daniel Sichel, 2005. "Measuring Capital and Technology: An Expanded Framework," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Capital in the New Economy, pages 11-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Vivien Beattie & Bill McInnes & Stella Fearnley, 2004. "A methodology for analysing and evaluating narratives in annual reports: a comprehensive descriptive profile and metrics for disclosure quality attributes," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 205-236, September.
    9. Amir, Eli & Lev, Baruch, 1996. "Value-relevance of nonfinancial information: The wireless communications industry," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 3-30, October.
    10. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    11. Boone, Jeff P. & Raman, K. K., 2001. "Off-balance sheet R&D assets and market liquidity," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 97-128.
    12. Core, John E. & Guay, Wayne R. & Buskirk, Andrew Van, 2003. "Market valuations in the New Economy: an investigation of what has changed," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-3), pages 43-67, January.
    13. Alex Dontoh & Suresh Radhakrishnan & Joshua Ronen, 2004. "The Declining Value†relevance of Accounting Information and Non†Information†based Trading: An Empirical Analysis," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 795-812, December.
    14. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    15. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    16. Paul M. Healy & Amy P. Hutton & Krishna G. Palepu, 1999. "Stock Performance and Intermediation Changes Surrounding Sustained Increases in Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 485-520, September.
    17. Allan C. Eberhart & William F. Maxwell & Akhtar R. Siddique, 2004. "An Examination of Long-Term Abnormal Stock Returns and Operating Performance Following R&D Increases," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(2), pages 623-650, April.
    18. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    19. Lev, Baruch & Sougiannis, Theodore, 1996. "The capitalization, amortization, and value-relevance of R&D," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 107-138, February.
    20. Baruch Lev & Bharat Sarath & Theodore Sougiannis, 2005. "R&D Reporting Biases and Their Consequences," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 977-1026, December.
    21. David Aboody & Baruch Lev, 2000. "Information Asymmetry, R&D, and Insider Gains," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2747-2766, December.
    22. Laurie Hunter & Elizabeth Webster & Anne Wyatt, 2005. "Measuring Intangible Capital: A Review of Current Practice," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 15(36), pages 4-21, July.
    23. David Easley & Maureen O'hara, 2004. "Information and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1553-1583, August.
    24. Lajili, Kaouthar & Zeghal, Daniel, 2006. "Market performance impacts of human capital disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 171-194.
    25. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    26. Lev, B & Zarowin, P, 1999. "The boundaries of financial reporting and how to extend them," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 353-385.
    27. Corinne Bessieux-Ollier & Monique Lacroix & Élisabeth Walliser, 2006. "Le capital humain : approche comptable versus approche managériale," Post-Print halshs-00526914, HAL.
    28. Collins, Daniel W. & Maydew, Edward L. & Weiss, Ira S., 1997. "Changes in the value-relevance of earnings and book values over the past forty years," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 39-67, December.
    29. Chiung-Ju Liang & Ming-Li Yao, 2005. "The Value-Relevance of Financial and Nonfinancial Information—Evidence from Taiwan’s Information Electronics Industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 135-157, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jihene Chedlia Soussi, 2012. "Impact of Voluntary Disclosure on the Relevance of Accounting Information," Journal of Education and Vocational Research, AMH International, vol. 3(5), pages 138-153.
    2. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    3. Kannan, Yezen & Khallaf, Ashraf & Gleason, Kimberly & Bostan, Ibrahim, 2023. "The relationship between R&D intensity, conservatism, and management earnings forecast issuance," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Douglas Skinner, 2008. "Accounting for intangibles – a critical review of policy recommendations," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 191-204.
    5. Rajgopal, Shiva & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2011. "Financial reporting quality and idiosyncratic return volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 1-20.
    6. Rajgopal, Shiva & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2011. "Financial reporting quality and idiosyncratic return volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Aharon, David Y. & Gavious, Ilanit & Yosef, Rami, 2010. "Stock market bubble effects on mergers and acquisitions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 456-470, November.
    8. Yoshie Saito, 2012. "The demand for accounting information: young NASDAQ listings versus S&P 500 NYSE listings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 149-175, February.
    9. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    10. Adam Ritter & Peter Wells, 2006. "Identifiable intangible asset disclosures, stock prices and future earnings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(5), pages 843-863, December.
    11. Ilanit Gavious & Dafna Schwartz, 2009. "The Valuation Implications of Sales Growth in Start-up Ventures," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 13(2), pages 1-24, Fall.
    12. Miihkinen, Antti, 2013. "The usefulness of firm risk disclosures under different firm riskiness, investor-interest, and market conditions: New evidence from Finland," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 312-331.
    13. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    14. Hung-Chao Yu & Wen-Ying Wang & Chingfu Chang, 2015. "The stock market valuation of intellectual capital in the IT industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 279-304, August.
    15. Paugam, Luc, 2011. "Valorisation et reporting du goodwill : enjeux théoriques et empiriques," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/8007 edited by Casta, Jean-François.
    16. Mark Russell, 2017. "Management incentives to recognise intangible assets," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57, pages 211-234, April.
    17. Dan Givoly & Carla Hayn & Sharon Katz, 2017. "The changing relevance of accounting information to debt holders over time," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 64-108, March.
    18. Schaberl, Philipp D., 2016. "Beyond accounting and back: An empirical examination of the relative relevance of earnings and “other” information," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 98-113.
    19. Morris, John J. & Alam, Pervaiz, 2012. "Value relevance and the dot-com bubble of the 1990s," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 243-255.
    20. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell Henry & Sættem, Frode, 2005. "The Value Relevance of Financial Reporting on the Oslo Stock Exchange over the Period 1964-2003," Discussion Papers 2005/23, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:accfor:v:35:y:2011:i:4:p:262-274. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/accounting-forum .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.