The Intellectual Capital Effectiveness and Enterprises' Performance: Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies Using VAIC Method

The question of the existence and measurement of intellectual capital (IC) in enterprises is significantly growing in importance in recent years. Researchers` attention is not only drawn to the measurement of IC absolute value, but also to the analysis of IC effectiveness. Scientists try to answer the question on the importance of intangible assets in creating company value. One of the possible methods to determine it, is the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) which was created in 1997 by A. Pulic from the Austrian Intellectual Capital Research Center. Theoretical intellectual capital efficiency considerations focus on issues of creating value for the company and its importance for the enterprise performance. Theoretical assumptions imply that the high efficiency of IC is positively correlated with the value of the company (measured by MV/BV ratio) and the company's performance, such as return on assets, equity and investments. However, empirical studies do not always confirm this relationship. The aim of the article was to examine the intellectual capital efficiency using the VAIC method and its impact on the market value and the performance of Polish companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange from the IT industry. Research timeline covered years: 2010 - 2013. Empirical studies took into account the time delay, what answered the question of whether and with how long delay effectiveness of the individual components of VAIC (SCE, CEE and HCE) has a statistically significant effect on the value and the company's performance measured by: ROA, ROE, ATO and MV/BV.