The disclosure of intellectual capital in Italian universities: What has been done and what should be done

Purpose Universities are proper knowledge institutions, since knowledge represents both the input and the output of their activities. Several guidelines have been issued by the European Union and national governments for the promotion of intellectual capital (IC) disclosure by universities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the amount and nature of voluntary IC disclosure in Italian universities and to gauge the opinion of university managers on IC managing and reporting. Design/methodology/approach The study applies content analysis and a survey. The content analysis was applied to a group of voluntary social reports (SRs) issued by Italian universities, while the survey was submitted to all top managers of Italian universities. Findings The research found a significant amount of IC disclosure in SRs. Also, university top managers demonstrated an awareness of benefits deriving from IC managing and reporting practices, both for decision-making processes and to respond to stakeholder’s needs. Originality/value The current paper contributes to IC literature by providing an assessment of IC voluntary disclosure practices in Italian universities, analysing reports other than the annual report (which is the only document media analysed by research so far). Furthermore, while previous research has focussed on IC disclosure, the current study investigates the motivations for IC managing and provides insights into the benefits deriving from IC reporting in universities.