Ownership Structure, Board Characteristics and Intellectual Capital Performance of Firms in Malaysia

This paper examines intellectual capital (IC) performance of Malaysian companies using Pulic’s Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) as a measure of IC performance.In addition, it examines if ownership structure and board characteristics are associated with IC performance.Our analysis focuses on 58 listed firm’s IC performance for the period 2006 and 2011, giving us a total of 116 observations.Controlling for board size, firm performance and industry, our findings show that government-owned companies have lower IC performance compared to nongovernment-owned companies.IC performance is also lower for companies whose Chairman and CEO are of the same person, compared to companies that separate the two roles.We also provide evidence that corporate governance and ownership structure play a vital role in influencing IC performance among firms in Malaysia.