Intellectual capital and financial performance of Portuguese tourism sector

Resumo

According to the literature, the intellectual capital is a critical element of value creation in organization performance, able to contribute for sustainable and higher financial income. This work aims to identify the added value and the efficiency of intellectual capital in its three dimensions - (i) human capital, (ii) structural capital and (iii) relational capital – in the tourism sector and evaluate its impact on the business performance. Data are draw from Simplified Business Information (IES) based on the Iberian Balance Analysis System (SABI). This study was performed with a sample of sheets and financial reports of 46 951 Portuguese companies in the tourism sector, during the 2007 to 2016 period. The results showed that all the dimensions of the intellectual capital have a positive and significant impact on the business performance of the tourism Portuguese sector. Human capital is the most effective dimension of intellectual capital and value creation. The application of the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) model provides practical implications for management and valorisation of intellectual capital. Therefore, the empirical results with the present analysis are relevant for future strategy for the tourism sector development in Portugal.