DISCLOSURE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN PORTUGAL IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Abstract

This study aims to study the voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital in annual reports of 32 companies listed on Euronext Lisbon, without interruption from 2001 to 2009. This study differs from prior studies in that it analyzes the evolution over the years of the disclosure of intellectual capital in Portugal.

The results of this study indicate that levels of disclosure of intellectual capital are very low and were not an increase, statistically significant at the level of disclosure. The results also indicate that in 2001 the category of intellectual capital with more disclosures was that of external capital, while in the years 2003 and 2005 the category with the highest level of disclosure was the category of internal capital. In the years 2007 and 2009 the categories of external capital and internal capital have very similar proportions of disclosure. The category of human capital is the category with the lowest level of disclosure.