IMPACT OF INTANGIBLES ON FIRM VALUE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM EUROPEAN PUBLIC COMPANIES

This paper examines the value relevance of intangibles expressed by R&D expenditures and intangible fixed assets, and other variables with the firm value. Using the regression approach for 1 520 observations in years 2011 – 2015, we found out that R&D expenses to total assets can significantly explain market to book value ratio of selected companies. Results of our analysis indicate the more accelerated increase of firm value with the increase of R&D expenses to total assets in comparison with the increase in relation to other regressions. An interesting fact is that intangible fixed assets to total assets are not statistically significant, indicating that the market does not evaluate passive strategy of externally acquiring intangible assets instead of their own development.