The impact of intellectual capital on firm performance: A study of Vietnamese firms listed on Vietnam Stock Exchange

Firms have considered intellectual capital (IC) as a key factor improving their competitiveness and performance. They can optimize their performance by maximizing resource utilization through examining the IC and physical capital. Therefore, in order to improve their competitiveness, this paper examines the impact of IC and its components on Vietnamese listed firm performance with a comparison among industry types over the period 2008-2021. The value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) model is employed to measure IC. The system generalized method of moments (SGMM) and structural equation model (SEM) are used to identify the factors affecting firm performance. Our findings are that IC and its components play an important role in firm performance. VAIC, human capital efficiency (HCE), and capital employed efficiency (CEE) contribute to firm performance. Structural capital efficiency (SCE) positively influences firm performance for all combined firms and manufacturing companies, while it has a negative effect on firm performance in the service sector. The financial crisis played an important role, but the COVID-19 pandemic eroded firm performance. The financial crisis had a moderating effect on IC. This research expands the understanding of IC by analyzing the impact of IC and its components on firm performance with consideration of global crises and industry comparison.