Intellectual capital and performance: evidence from SMEs in Vietnam

PurposeThis paper investigated the relationship between intellectual capital (IC)/its components, and the business performance of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe panel data set was obtained from the Vietnam SME database. Using the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) approach for IC measurement, this paper employs various panel data estimation approaches, including fixed effects (FE) and the generalized method of moments (GMM), to examine the relationship between IC and the financial performance of SMEs in Vietnam.FindingsThe result suggests that the value creation activities of SMEs in Vietnam mainly occur on the basis of physical and financial capital. In other words, the findings indicate that Vietnamese SMEs mainly depend on physical and financial capital to profit: they have not fully utilized their human capital and structural capital, two main components of IC for value creation.Practical implicationsThe results underline the urgency of effective management of tangible and IC to boost the utilization of human and structural capital to increase the profitability of Vietnamese SMEs. The results lead to suggesting a series of policy recommendations to achieve the objective.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to examine the relationship between IC and the financial performance of SMEs in Vietnam, contributing to the literature on IC in emerging countries.