EFFECTS OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL DISCLOSURE ON MARKET CAPITALIZATION OF LISTED BANKS IN GHANA

Abstract

Adequate disclosure in annual reports by public listed companies is very important to avoid information asymmetry and increase a firm’s reputation. Therefore, the study examined the effects of intellectual capital disclosure on market capitalization of the listed banks in Ghana. The study used the annual reports and the share prices of five listed banks on the GSE from 2011 to 2015. The data was analyzed through purposive sampling. The results of the study indicate that there are both positive and negative significant effect of intellectual capital disclosure on market capitalization. Moreover the components of intellectual capital,thus human was found to be positively significant with market capitalization and both Structural and Relational are negatively significant on market capitalization. The study therefore recommends to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to work toge with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) the accounting regulatory body in the country, perhaps, to develop guidelines or framework on IC disclosure in order to enhance the adequacy of such disclosures.