Intangible assets, firm value, and performance: does intangible-intensive matter?

Abstract

This study examines the effects of intangible assets and all components of intangible assets on Thai-listed companies’ firm value and performance. The aggregate value of intangible assets and three components of intangible assets, namely identifiable intangible assets (IIA), goodwill (GW), and research and development (R&D), were used as test variables. Firm value, measured by Tobin’s Q, and two measurements of firm performance, return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), were used as dependent variables. The final sample includes 3,701 observations for ten years from 2012 to 2021 in Thailand. Ordinary least square (OLS) was employed to test the hypotheses. Estimated results show that the aggregate value of intangible assets affects firm value positively. When the aggregate value of intangible assets was classified into three components, IIA positively impacted firm value. In contrast, GW and R&D positively impacted both firm value and performance. We further separated our observations into two groups based on the intangible-intensive profile (IIP). We confirmed that the positive impacts of IIA, GW, and R&D on firm value and performance were higher for IIP firms than for non-IIP firms.