Investigating market value and intellectual capital for S&P 500

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and answer the following research questions: how does the US electronic industry perform from an intellectual capital (IC) perspective? What is the relationship between IC and company market value in the US electronic industry? This study investigated the relationship between IC and company market value in the US Standard & Poor's 500 (US S&P 500) publicly traded electronic companies from 1996 to 2005. Design/methodology/approach The Ohlson model theory was reviewed and to form the research models. Secondary data were retrieved from S&P's Compustat for quantitative analysis. Findings When applying multiple regression technique to the research hypotheses, there emerges a positive relationship between IC and market value of the company. Apparently, US electronic companies are knowledge intensive and utilize IC to create their market capitalization. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical researches that quantitatively examine the market value of US S&P's 500 electronic companies from IC perspective in the long‐term.