The evolving research on intellectual capital

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to serve as a useful reference for anyone embarking on research into intellectual capital (IC). It provides a succinct summary of the seminal works on this research area. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the seminal literature arranges it into a chronology of the evolving research into IC. Findings The findings show that IC has undergone a number of development stages from definitions, models through to measures and applications of IC to business and management issues. Research limitations/implications The review is limited to refereed journals and books published before March 2007. Practical implications IC is an area of interest to numerous parties, including shareholders, institutional investors, scholars, policymakers and managers. This paper serves as a useful reference on the stages of development of IC and the applications to business and management issues. Originality/value The study of IC has undergone a number of stages, from early conscious awareness efforts, to classification of IC and to the search for appropriate measures of IC. This paper provides a taxonomy on IC research as suggestions about future research directions.