Proceedings

from the work performed by a panel of researchers from the World Congress on
Intellectual Capital (WCIC). The resulted framework is composed of 33 IC items.
Regarding the methodology, in order to achieve our first objective, we conducted a
content analysis considering both the number and the location of the 33 IC items
classified under three captions: internal (structural capital), external capital and human
capital. For the second objective, an IC disclosure index (ICD_Index) was constructed
for each company which had a common base containing the 33 IC items. Results
obtained for ICD_Index are used when testing (through descriptive statistics, T test,
Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis) whether certain factors such
company size and industry type influence ICD.
Being a pioneering study, our paper contributes to the ICD literature by providing
empirical evidence of the status of IC reporting and of determinants of ICD in a
developing country context. In addition, the results obtained represent a basis for
comparison with those obtained by other studies carried out in other developing
countries; can be used in Meta analysis and challenges researchers to extend the area
of analysis by considering the relation between ICD and other possible determinants.
To address our objectives, the paper is structured as follows: the next section briefly
explores the relevant research studies carried out in the area of ICD and the
determinants of ICD using the results therein as arguments for our hypothesis
development. The following section then explains the research methodologies used to
conduct the empirical analysis. Independently, another section presents and examines
the results of the research. The final section provides a summary of the paper
including conclusions and also discussing the key limitations of the study and future
research implications of its findings.
1. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
The central research questions that are addressed by this paper can be presented as
follows: “What is the nature and extent of ICDs made by public Romanian
companies?” and “What are the key drivers of voluntary disclosure?”
There are several studies investigating the quantity and the quality of information that
companies provide in respect of IC and several studies carried out aiming to provide
evidence regarding the factors that may have contributed to the disclosure of IC. Few
examples of such studies are summarised below in chronological order. Guthrie and
Petty (2000) analysed the ICD practices in the case of 19 Australian companies and
found that internal capital and human capital are quite evenly matched (30%) while
external capital is the most disclosed with 40%. Brennan (2001) examines to what
extent Irish listed companies report IC information within their annual reports. As a
result of conducting content analysis on 10,000 Canadian companies, with the
objective to identify instances in which ICDs took place, Bontis (2003) found that
only 68 companies out of 10,000 even used the IC terms in their annual report.
Findings from Malaysia (Goh and Lim 2004) reveal the fact that companies in
Malaysia follow the trend of other countries to include IC information in their annual
reports in the way that external capital had been mostly disclosed (41%).
Abdolmohammadi (2005) investigates the nature and extent of ICD within the annual
reports of US companies. Findings from this study reveal that IC categories “Brand”
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