ABSTRACT

This work examined the effect of Intellectual capital costs on earnings generation of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design and panel regression statistical technique, involving the use of time series and cross-sectional data. Data covered the period of eight-years (2011-2018); considering the total population of fourteen (14) listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, random sampling was employed in selecting firms for this study involving eleven (11) deposit money banks. Data were sourced secondarily from the firms' published annual financial statements. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) theory as developed by Pulic (1998) was adopted for this study. It was discovered from the findings that Human Capital Efficiency (HCE), Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE) and Capital Employed Efficiency (CEE), as components of Intellectual capital costs all have a positive and significant effect on gross earnings. Therefore, Intellectual Capital Costs have a positive and significant effect on earnings generation of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria.  In view of our findings, deposit money banks should ensure that an advanced and all-encompassing training and retraining programme is put in place to certify an up to date human resource, which is both efficient and effective. In addition, managing directors of deposit money banks should carry out a proper implementation and regular monitoring of the systems, procedures and program (structural capital), all with an effective and efficient support from higher and middle line management, as this will ensure expansion in all frontiers of the business.