• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.153-167
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• 2020

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine whether social value-related expenditures can be recognized as intangible assets in financial statements. Design/methodology/approach - This study examined social values defined in the economic and management fields and analyzed whether the social values have the characteristics of intangible assets. For this, the general definition of social value was derived from the concept of social value covered in previous studies. Next, we reviewed the definitions and recognition requirements for intangible assets under the current accounting standards. Based on this, we tried to suggest new criteria and disclosure methods for reporting social value-related expenditures that are not currently reported in financial statements as intangible assets in the financial statements and notes. Findings - First, as a criterion for recognizing social value-related expenditure as an intangible asset, we propose a relationship between social value-related expenditure and enterprise value. Where social value-related expenditures have a statistically significant positive impact on corporate value, they are recognized as intangible assets. If social value-related expenditures have a statistically significant negative influence on business value, or the impact of social value-related expenditures on the enterprise value is not statistically significant, it is not recognized as asset. Second, new disclosure plans are proposed according to the combination of intangible assets by category and the relevance of enterprise value. After dividing social value-related expenditures into separate intangible asset categories, if social value-related expenditures have a statistically significant positive impact on corporate value, they are recognized as intangible assets in the financial statements. If expenditures have a statistically significant negative impact on business value, they should be recorded as essential notes. Finally, if the impact of social value-related expenditure on corporate value is not statistically significant, it should be listed as a supplement. Research implications or Originality - This study contributes to the concurrent research in that it is a priori study on whether social value-related expenditure can be recognized as an asset. This study suggests that the economic effect of social expenditure can be recognized in corporate financial statements, thereby providing companies with justification and effectiveness of social value-related expenditure.