Environmental, Social, and Governance Information Disclosure and Intellectual Capital Efficiency in Jordanian Listed Firms

In this study, we explore the association between the intellectual capital (IC) efficiency of firms and their voluntary disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information, using data on Jordanian listed firms and the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) model with its three components of human, structural, and relational capital efficiency (HCE, SCE, and RCE, respectively). We find that disclosing environmental information is unrelated to IC efficiency, that disclosing governance information is associated with raised IC efficiency through the HCE and RCE components, and that disclosing social information is negatively associated with IC efficiency through the SCE and RCE components. We also find that releasing information on one or two of the three ESG dimensions has a positive effect on IC efficiency. This evidence has implications for the management of intangible assets.