The principal purpose of this study is to investigate the association between the efficiency of value added (VA) by the major components of a firm's resource base (physical capital, human capital and structural capital) and three traditional dimensions of corporate performance: profitability, productivity, and market valuation. Data are drawn from a sample of 75 publicly traded firms from South Africa from business sectors heavily reliant on intellectual capital. Empirical analysis is conducted using correlation and linear multiple regression analysis. Findings from the empirical analysis indicate that associations between the efficiency of VA by a firm's major resource bases and profitability, productivity and market valuation are generally limited and mixed. Overall, the empirical findings suggest that physical capital remains the most significant underlying resource of corporate performance in South Africa despite efforts to increase the nation's intellectual capital base.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the performance of a company’s intellectual capital can explain organisational performance. The dimensions of a company’s performance are (1) profitability, (2) productivity and (3) market valuation. Data were obtained from a sample of 65 companies that are listed on the JSE Securities Exchange (high knowledge‐base sectors). Findings from the empirical analysis indicate that the relationships between the performance of a company’s intellectual capital and (1) profitability, (2) productivity and (3) market valuation are informative but varied. The empirical findings suggest that the performance of a company’s intellectual capital can explain profitability and productivity, but not market valuation.

This article examines the relationship between board structure and the intellectual capital performance of South African publicly listed companies. Board composition was analysed in terms of gender and ethnic diversity, using cross‐sectional multiple regressions. The population of the study included all South African companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange during 2003. The final sample, after the transformation of the data, consisted of 117 companies. The empirical results indicated a positive significant relationship between the percentage of ethnic members on the companies’ boards of directors and intellectual capital performance. Based on the results of this study, it is argued that South African publicly listed companies may be able to enhance their intellectual capital performance by using an ethnically diverse board of directors.

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The debate on the determinants of firm value is ongoing; and the increasing gap in the book‐to‐market ratio (Lev & Sougiannis 1999) has yet to be explained in the financial literature. This article contributes to the debate by examining whether intellectual capital measured using the value added intellectual coefficient (VAICTM) (Pulic 1998) contributes to the explanation of the book‐to‐market ratio. This study used Ohlson’s 1995 valuation model and JSE Securities Exchange (SA) (JSE) data in an attempt to identify whether the book value of assets, accounting (accrual) earnings and VAICTM explain the behaviour of South African share prices. The panel data least squares model results indicate a significant relationship between share prices three months after year end, and abnormal earnings, abnormal cash dividends, book value of assets, the capital employed coefficient, and the human capital coefficient.