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National intellectual capital is generally considered a strategic advantage for national competitiveness. However, the measurement of intellectual capital across countries for comparison purposes appears to receive little attention. This study aims to use a new index of national intellectual capital (INIC) to examine the relationship between national intellectual capital and national competitiveness.

This paper uses the INIC, developed by Vo and Tran (2021), to measure, compare and contrast differences in the level of national intellectual capital across 104 countries. INIC comprises the most crucial intellectual capital components: human capital, structural capital and relational capital. Various economic and social indicators are used as the proxies for these components of intellectual capital. Principal component analysis is used to derive INIC.

The results indicate that during the study period the level of national intellectual capital gradually increased. Europe has attained the highest level of national intellectual capital, whereas Africa has achieved the lowest level. This study’s findings confirm a close relationship between the national intellectual capital level and the national income level. Among the ten biggest countries, the USA achieved the highest national intellectual capital level, and China has significantly improved its cumulative level. Finland achieved the highest level of national intellectual capital in the world. National intellectual capital enhances a country’s competitiveness.

Findings in this study shed light on an international comparison of intellectual capital across countries and understanding how national intellectual capital contributes to and improves national competitiveness. Policymakers can consider and use these findings to support the accumulation of national intellectual capital and boost national competitive advantage, especially low-income countries and emerging markets.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to estimate a degree of national intellectual capital around the world and examine its impact on national competitiveness based on publicly available data.

In developed countries, banks are perceived to accumulate a higher level of intellectual capital than firms in other sectors. However, this perception has not been considered or tested in the context of an emerging market such as Vietnam, which has one of the most dynamic economies in the Asian region. This study estimates and compares the level of accumulation of intellectual capital and its four components by financial and nonfinancial firms in Vietnam. Furthermore, this study examines the relationship between intellectual capital and its components and the performance of financial and nonfinancial firms.

This study uses data collected from the annual reports of 75 financial and 75 nonfinancial firms in Vietnam from 2011 to 2018. A modified value-added intellectual coefficient model is adopted to measure the level of intellectual capital at firms. Various aspects of intellectual capital are considered, including the efficiency of human capital, structural capital, capital employed and relational capital. In addition, the generalized method of moments is used to ensure the robustness of the findings.

Findings in this study indicate that financial firms in Vietnam have accumulated a higher level of intellectual capital than nonfinancial firms. In addition, intellectual capital contributes positively to financial firms' performance. Three components of intellectual capital – structural capital efficiency, capital employed efficiency and relational capital efficiency – positively affect performance by financial firms.

This study is limited to financial and nonfinancial firms in Vietnam. Empirical studies in the future should incorporate the efficiency aspects of these types of firms because different industries might have different characteristics, in particular, their current efficiency level, which might cause differences in relation to the accumulation of intellectual capital.

The findings of this study provide valuable evidence and implications for executives and policymakers in creating, managing and enhancing intellectual capital within the Vietnamese context, in particular in the financial sector.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study conducted in the context of Vietnam, with the following two objectives: (1) to measure and compare the level of accumulation of intellectual capital by financial and nonfinancial firms in Vietnam; and (2) to examine the contribution of intellectual capital and its components to the performance by financial and nonfinancial firms in Vietnam.

For the past two decades, intellectual capital has played an increasingly important role in firm performance around the world. However, the importance of intellectual capital in Vietnam, and especially in the banking sector, has largely been ignored in the literature. This study is the first to examine the effect of intellectual capital on bank performance in Vietnam. In this paper, intellectual capital is decomposed into three components: (1) capital employed efficiency, (2) human capital efficiency and (3) structural capital efficiency.

The paper uses an unbalanced panel dataset on 14 listed banks in Vietnam for the period 2009–2018 for which required data are available, with the generalized method of moments.

The findings indicate that intellectual capital contributes significantly and positively to bank performance in Vietnam. In addition, bank performance is driven primarily by capital employed efficiency. Although human capital efficiency appears to contribute positively to bank performance, the effect on bank performance appears to be marginal.

The literature review indicates that the effect of intellectual capital on bank performance is mixed. This effect can be positive or negative or even show a U-shaped relationship. The effects of intellectual capital on firm performance are not consistent, depending on factors such as the quantitative technique and sample used. As such, this paper extends analysis of Vietnam to cover the 10-year period from 2009 to 2018. The literature review reveals that the contribution of intellectual capital to bank performance has largely been ignored in the context of Vietnam. Studies have been conducted on the Gulf countries, such as Buallay et al. (2020). However, because the context in Vietnam differs from that of the Gulf countries, their experience might not be relevant to Vietnam. Vietnam is an emerging market in Southeast Asia, whereas Gulf countries have high income levels. So, it is necessary to examine direct evidence on Vietnam.

Intellectual capital, corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are generally considered three essential pillars to enhance firms’ performance in the developed world. However, in developing countries such as Vietnam, these pillars have not received sufficient attention from practitioners. In addition, this study aims to investigate the interrelationship between these three essential pillars and their combined effects, in the Vietnamese context.

This study uses data collected from the annual reports of the largest listed banks in Vietnam from 2011 to 2018. Intellectual capital is measured using a modified value-added intellectual coefficient model. CG is proxied by board remuneration. This study measures CSR using the ratio between charitable contributions and profit before tax. In addition, this study uses the generalized method of moments to overcome several econometric problems exhibited in previous empirical studies.

Results indicate that CG and CSR have a positive impact on intellectual capital. Intellectual capital plays a moderating role in the relationship between CG and CSR. Moreover, CG and intellectual capital in the previous year significantly affect CG in the current year.

Based on the findings from this study, policy implications have emerged for bank executives and policymakers in formulating and implementing policy about the balance between intellectual capital accumulation, CG and CSR.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study conducted to examine the interrelationship between intellectual capital, CG and CSR and their combined effects in emerging countries such as Vietnam.

The effects of government expenditure on the shadow economy have been investigated. However, the effect from a moderating factor that affects this relationship has been largely ignored in the existing literature. This paper investigates how fiscal deficit moderates the effects of government expenditure on the shadow economy for 32 Asian countries for the past two decades since 2000.

The authors use various techniques, which allow cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity in panel data analysis, to examine this relationship in both the long run and short run. The analysis also considers the marginal effects of government expenditure on the shadow economy at different degrees of fiscal deficits.

Empirical findings from this paper indicate that an increase in government expenditure and fiscal deficit will increase the shadow economy size. Interestingly, the effects of government expenditure on the shadow economy will intensify with a greater degree of the budget deficit. The authors also find that enhancing economic growth to improve income per capita and extending international trade appears to reduce the shadow economy in the Asian countries.

The authors consider that policies targeting reducing shadow economy should follow conventional economic policies on economic growth, unemployment and inflation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study conducted to examine the moderating role of fiscal deficit in the government expenditure–shadow economy nexus in Asian countries.

Countries worldwide aim to improve their comparative advantages by efficiently using scarce resources for economic growth and development. While many studies have been conducted to measure intellectual capital at the firm's level, measuring it at the national level has been under-examined. In addition, while the important role of national intellectual capital in economic growth has been theoretically recognized in literature, this important link has largely been ignored in empirical analyses.

This study uses the newly developed index of national intellectual capital from Vo and Tran's (2022) study to examine its effects on national economic growth in the long run. The dynamic common correlated effects technique and the pooled mean group estimation are used on the sample of 23 economies in the Asia–Pacific region from 2000 to 2020.

Findings from this study confirm the positive and significant contribution of the national intellectual capital to economic growth in the region. The authors also find that, as a feedback effect, economic growth will also enhance and improve the accumulation of national intellectual capital.

The findings of this paper provide valuable evidence and implications for policymakers in managing and improving national intellectual capital in the Asia–Pacific region.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the impact of national intellectual capital on economic growth in the long run in the Asia–Pacific economies.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance and intellectual capital in the context of Vietnam. In this paper, corporate governance is proxied by various characteristics, including board size, a number of independent members in the board, board remuneration, major shareholder holding more than 20 per cent of the outstanding shares and duality of the CEO. In addition, intellectual capital is measured using the modified value-added intellectual coefficient model (MVAIC).

The study uses data of 45 Vietnamese listed firms during 2011-2018. The MVAIC model is used incorporating four components, namely, human capital, structural capital, capital used and relational capital. In addition, GMM regression technique is used in this paper.

Empirical findings from this paper indicate that key characteristics of corporate governance, except for board remuneration, may provide a negative effect on the efficient use of intellectual capital.

Intellectual capital emerges as a new field of research that has not been widely examined in emerging countries such as Vietnam. As such, there have not been many studies focusing on understanding intellectual capital and its role in the performance of enterprises. Further studies can evaluate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance, capital structure, corporate value and social responsibility. This study is limited to listed companies in Vietnam because of data limitations in an emerging market. Studies in the future should extend the sample and/or compare differences between manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions, or between countries.

Findings from this paper provide a valuable framework for executives, managers and policymakers in managing corporate governance and intellectual capital within the Vietnamese context.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study that has been conducted to examine the relationship between corporate governance and intellectual capital in the context of Vietnam.

A very few studies have been conducted to measure a degree of national intellectual capital for selected groups of countries. This paper is conducted to construct a new index of national intellectual capital (INIC) which is simple, quantifiable, relevant and comparable for countries around the globe.

The styudy’s new INIC uses various indicators which are proxies for fundamental aspects of intellectual capital, including (1) human capital, (2) structural capital and (3) relational capital. These indicators are publicly available for many countries. The principal component analysis is utilized to derive the INIC. Various tests have also been conducted to ensure that the new index is appropriate and fit for purpose.

Findings from this paper confirm that the new INIC has a strong correlation of 0.80 with an index developed by Lin et al. (2014) (the LECB index), an advanced INIC to date. The LECB index has been infrequently updated and covered selected countries due to data and information unavailability. In addition, the study’s tests indicate that a high correlation of 0.75 is observed between the study’s index and GDP per capita. The new INIC represents an advancement in relation to its simplicity, quantification, relevance and international comparison across nations.

The estimates of national intellectual capital using the approach in this study will open a new strand of theoretical and empirical studies in relation to national intellectual capital and other economic and social issues of interests. This novel and innovative approach will provide policymakers with a valuable framework to formulate and implement relevant policies to enhance and improve national intellectual capital.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study of its type, which is conducted to measure national intellectual capital based on publicly available data. Required data cover an extended period of years and a majority of countries. As such, an INIC will enhance transparency and feasibility for international comparison across countries.

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence and policy implications on the link between corporate social responsibility, financial inclusion and financial performance of the banking sector in an emerging market.

This study uses data collected from the annual reports of 13 listed banks in Vietnam from 2011 to 2019. CSR is proxied by the ratio between charitable contributions and bank profits. Besides, this study uses the number of branches and the number of agents as the proxies for a level of financial inclusion. The generalized method of moments and various tests are used to ensure the robustness of the findings.

Findings in this study indicate that CSR activities do matter, and they contribute positively to financial inclusion. In addition, the bank’s size is also associated with an increased level of financial inclusion.

Findings from this study provide important implications for bank executives and policymakers in Vietnam in managing and extending CSR activities with the view of supporting and enhancing financial inclusion.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first empirical study in the context of the banking sector in Vietnam in which the impact of CSR activities and financial performance of the banking sector on financial inclusion at the bank level is examined.

Adopting digital transformation is changing the methods through which companies' function, generating novel possibilities and difficulties that force firms to adjust to remain competitive in the digital era. It is critical for firms to embrace this change and utilize technology to develop a more flexible, proactive and effective approach as digital transformation continues to advance at an accelerating pace. Vietnam has been placed at the forefront of these changes in attracting investments and becoming a hub of international trade. As a result, Vietnamese firms have been implementing restructuring and adopting digital transformation to remain competitive with the flow of foreign investment. This paper aims to examine the effects of digital transformation on corporate restructuring in Vietnam. The authors then investigate the moderating role of corporate governance in the digital transformation – corporate restructuring nexus.

The authors employ content analysis to extract information from the annual reports of 747 Vietnamese listed companies, where the authors focus on specific phrases, such as “digitalization”, “big data”, “cloud computing”, “blockchain” and “information technology” over a period of 11 years, from 2011 to 2021. The frequency count of these keywords is calculated to represent the level of digital transformation for the Vietnamese listed firms. A final sample of 118 Vietnamese listed firms with sufficient data is selected for the analysis using the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach.

The results indicate that digital transformation and corporate governance negatively impact corporate restructuring when their effect on corporate restructuring is examined independently. However, corporate governance strengthens the effect of digital transformation on corporate restructuring.

This paper is one of the first to investigate the moderating role of corporate governance on the effect of digital transformation on corporate restructuring in Vietnam. The findings inspire listed firms in Vietnam to implement digital transformation during their corporate restructuring to enhance performance.