The impact of intangible assets and sub-components of intangible assets on sustainable growth and firm value: Evidence from Turkish listed firms

Abstract

This study explores the effect of intangible assets and sub-components of intangible assets on sustainable growth and firm value in Turkey. The cumulative (i.e., aggregative) value of intangible assets of firms and sub-components of intangible assets were used as test variables in the current study. Further, intangible assets of the firms were divided into three sub-components using the classification of Corrado, Hulten and Sichel, namely computerized information and database, innovative property, and economic competence. Firms listed on Borsa Istanbul were analyzed to test the hypotheses. Two different measures of sustainable growth of firms and unique measure of firm value were used as dependent variables. The final sample includes 1353 observations for nine years between 2005-2013 in Turkey. Ordinary least square (OLS) and Heckman two-stage estimation procedures were employed to test the hypotheses. Estimation results of OLS and Heckman two-stage procedures show that the cumulative value of intangible assets affect the sustainable growth rates of firms and firm value positively. When the cumulative value of intangible assets was classified into three sub-components, both computerized information and database and economic competence impact the sustainable growth rates of firms and firm value.