نقش دارایی های نامشهود و بدهی ها در عملکرد شرکت: شواهد تجربی The role of intangible assets and liabilities in firm performance: empirical evidence

INTRODUCTION Accounting researchers and practitioners have long discussed about the ability, or indeed inability, of standard financial reports to reflect the actual value of a firm (Lev, 2008; Skinner, 2008a; Penman, 2009). In particular, the accounting treatment of intangibles is one of the most debated, repeated and unresolved issues in accounting, both in academic research as well as in standard setting (Skinner, 2008a; Wrigley, 2008; Penman, 2009; Lev et al., 2009). The widening gap between market value of companies and reported book values is cited as an indication of the significance of intangibles in the modern economy, with the difference between market and book values, in some cases, reaching as high as 80 percent (Penman, 2009; Lev et al., 2009). For instance, market forecasts show that Apple’s market value, currently over 700 billion US dollars, is expected to hit the 1 trillion mark in few years (Reuters, 2015). Apple’s financial records show that its book value is substantially lower than its ballooning market value. The hidden, or unaccounted, value between market and book values of Apple, and many other companies such as Microsoft and Dell is categorically attributed to intangible (intellectual) assets (Penman, 2009; Lev et al., 2009; Edvinsson, 2013). In contrast, studies suggest that intangible liabilities also exist (Harvey and Lusch, 1999; Giuliani, 2013). Intangible liabilities such as environmental spills, air pollution and poor corporate reputation can negatively impact market value of a company. For example, the recent Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal has significantly decreased the company’s market value by nearly 30% since the news emerged in March, 2015 (CNN, 2015). Despite acknowledging the significance of intangibles in the modern economy, accounting researchers struggle the identification, measurement and systematic disclosure of intangibles. Wrigley (2008, p. 259) argues that “the best valuation you can get – already exists for the aggregate intangibles for a business”, claiming that the “market cap at the year-end minus the tangible book value could be used as the value of the intangibles”. More specifically, a number of academic researchers maintain that “if the market value of a firm exceeds its book value” then there are unrecorded intangible assets (Lev, 2008; Lev et al., 2009). On the other hand, “if a firm is selling for less than book value it has some unrecorded intangible liabilities” (Harvey and Lusch (1999, p. 87). In essence, intangibles assets (liabilities) are significantly driving (restraining) how businesses create (destroy) value in the modern economy (Chen et al., 2005; Lev et al., 2009; Stam, 2009; De Santis and Giuliani, 2013).