How much does firm-specific intellectual capital vary? Cross-industry and cross-national comparison

Abstract

This study examines the level of firm-specific intellectual capital (IC) and then goes on to find out whether there are differences across national and industry contexts in this regard. The study focuses on firms in two European countries, Finland and Spain, and on low- and high-tech sectors. Utilising survey data, we analysed six different categories of intellectual capital with multiple-item scales, tested for their reliability and validity, and compared the means of IC categories between high- and low-tech firms in Finland and Spain. The findings show that the level of IC in high-tech firms is sufficiently similar in Finland and Spain, while in the low-tech sector there are major differences. Furthermore, we find that in Spain there are more major differences in IC between high- and low-tech firms than in the case of Finnish firms. Overall, this study provides new understanding of how IC varies across countries and industries.