Cost–Benefit Analysis of Intellectual Capital Disclosure from Accounting Experts and Masters’ Point of view

Today, intellectual capital reporting for companies has become a critical issue by transition from an industrial economy and achieving to a knowledge-based economy. Evidence shows that companies voluntarily disclose this information to improve conditions of predicting future position, determining the intrinsic value and reducing information asymmetry. Between several research about the importance of intellectual capital reporting and its impact on various items such as financial performance, market value, etc., cost-benefit analyses reporting of this information is rare. The purpose of this study is cost-benefit analysis of intellectual capital disclosure by companies from accounting experts and masters’ point of view to determine the importance of intellectual capital information for accounting information users and determining obstacles and benefits of information disclosure.
For this purpose, the questionnaire designed by Corcoles and Ponce (2013) were sent to 345 members of experts and masters of accounting and 128 questioners were returned. Then statistical analyses have been done by using Binomial and Freidman tests. It was found that the presentation and disclosure of intellectual capital information increases the relevance of information in the financial statements. The lack of information systems for detection and measurement of intangible resources and the high cost of development of such information has been the most important reasons for preventing the disclosure of intellectual capital. Transparency increase and improving the reputation and image of corporations are the main benefits of disclosing this information.