IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ehu/cuader/75366.html

Rethinking Business Valuation: A Bibliometric Review of Intangible Elements as Key Value Drivers. The Role of Managers in Value Creation

Author

Listed:
  • Bañuelos Campo, Arkaitz
  • Ayala Calvo, Juan Carlos

Abstract

[EN] Traditional business valuation methods do not consider most intangibles that affect the value of the company, although they are considered as key elements by both researchers and practitioners. Research in this field is not consolidated yet and although some authors have attempted to address this issue, there is no standardized list of intangible variables that can be systematically included in the valuation process. The objective of this study was to identify all intangibles studied regarding firm value, classify them into clusters and observe their relevance in the scientific literature over the years through a bibliometric approach. Using VOSviewer visualization tool, from the review of 843 published papers in the Web of Science (WOS) in the last two decades, we obtained 5 clusters of intangible variables related to firm value: Strategy and firm characteristics; External elements to the firm; Ownership structure; Management structure; and Stakeholders and CSR. “Strategy and firm characteristics” was the cluster with the highest scientific output, and “ownership structure” the most influential. We found that most of the intangible elements that affect the value of the company can be managed by the company’s management. This makes managers the key element in value creation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bañuelos Campo, Arkaitz & Ayala Calvo, Juan Carlos, 2025. "Rethinking Business Valuation: A Bibliometric Review of Intangible Elements as Key Value Drivers. The Role of Managers in Value Creation," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ehu:cuader:75366
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://addi.ehu.eus/handle/10810/75366
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shengzhong Huang & Hongping Tan & Xiongyuan Wang & Changqiu Yu, 2023. "Valuation uncertainty and analysts’ use of DCF models," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 827-861, June.
    2. Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Ardito, Lorenzo & Savino, Tommaso, 2018. "Maturity of knowledge inputs and innovation value: The moderating effect of firm age and size," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 190-201.
    3. Belo, Frederico & Gala, Vito D. & Salomao, Juliana & Vitorino, Maria Ana, 2022. "Decomposing firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 619-639.
    4. Hu, Shiwei & Zhang, Yuyao, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic and firm performance: Cross-country evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 365-372.
    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. Bao, Yuting & Pan, Tianxing, 2025. "Close to star organizations promotes exploratory innovation for latecomers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    2. Kang, Hyoung-Goo & Ryu, Doojin, 2025. "A complementary valuation model and exit multiples," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. González, Marta Ramos & Ureña, Antonio Partal & Fernández-Aguado, Pilar Gómez, 2023. "Forecasting for regulatory credit loss derived from the COVID-19 pandemic: A machine learning approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Yudha, Graha & Dahlan, Rolan & Zulkarnain, Ismail & Nugraha, Achmad, 2025. "Understanding Credit Demand: Exploring the Impact of Leverage and Return on Borrowing," MPRA Paper 126281, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Diana Machado & Aldina Correia & Alexandra Braga & Aidin Salamzadeh & Vítor Braga, 2025. "Business Innovation and Internationalisation in Female-Owned Businesses: A Fuzzy-set QCA Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(5), pages 16725-16753, November.
    6. Athira, A. & Ramesh, Vishnu K., 2023. "COVID-19 and corporate tax avoidance: International evidence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    7. Guendalina Anzolin & Chiara Benassi & Armanda Cetrulo, 2024. "Industrial relations and firm-level innovation. A comparative analysis of establishment data in Germany and Italy," LEM Papers Series 2024/12, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    8. Ramadani, Veland & Hisrich, Robert D. & Abazi-Alili, Hyrije & Dana, Léo-Paul & Panthi, Laxman & Abazi-Bexheti, Lejla, 2019. "Product innovation and firm performance in transition economies: A multi-stage estimation approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 271-280.
    9. Aristovnik, Aleksander & Yang, Guo-liang & Song, Yao-yao & Ravšelj, Dejan, 2023. "Industrial performance of the top R&D enterprises in world-leading economies: A metafrontier approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Ling, Aifan & Guan, Huihua & Zhang, Nannan, 2026. "Brand capital and corporate stock risk: A theoretical and empirical analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Damle, Harshali & Sinha, Rajesh Kumar, 2024. "Human capital quality and cash holdings," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3).
    12. Banerjee, Pradip & Dhole, Sandip & Mishra, Sagarika, 2023. "Operating performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: Is there a business group advantage?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Ahmad, Wasim & Kutan, Ali M. & Chahal, Rishman Jot Kaur & Kattumuri, Ruth, 2021. "COVID-19 Pandemic and firm-level dynamics in the USA, UK, Europe, and Japan," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    14. Charkhchi, Iman & Toscano, Francesca & Tran, Viet, 2025. "The impact of organizational capital on corporate debt maturity structure choices," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    15. Khorshed Alam & Mohammad Afshar Ali & Michael Erdiaw-Kwasie & Md Shahiduzzaman & Eswaran Velayutham & Peter A. Murray & Retha Wiesner, 2022. "Impact of ICTs on Innovation and Performance of Firms: Do Start-ups, Regional Proximity and Skills Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    16. Fasano, Francesco & Javier Sánchez-Vidal, F. & La Rocca, Maurizio, 2022. "The role of government policies for Italian firms during the COVID-19 crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    17. Butt, Moeen Naseer & Baig, Ahmed S., 2024. "Assessing the firm-level financial consequences of clustering," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    18. Ma Lan & Wang Qi & Wang Dalei, 2023. "Measurement and Analysis of the Scientific and Technological Innovation Efficiency of Industrial Enterprises above a Designated Scale in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    19. Wasim ul Rehman & Faryal Jalil & Omur Saltik & Suleyman Degirmen & Mustafa Bekmezci, 2024. "Leveraging Strategic Innovation and Process Capabilities for Intellectual Capital Initiative Performance of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs): A Knowledge-Based Perspective," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4161-4202, March.
    20. Jeon, Haejun & Cui, Xue & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2023. "The effects of labor choice on investment and output dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ehu:cuader:75366. 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: Alcira Macías Redondo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ieahues.html .

    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.