Walaa Mahmoud EyalSalman

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
In the age of the knowledge economy, intellectual capital has become a key factor in the success of business organizations, especially in emerging countries. This study examines the relevance of intangible assets to firm development in Jordan’s industrial sector. The paper attempts to estimate the effect of intellectual capital on the growth of Jordanian industrial firms under the Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) model. The study used panel data on 64 industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange for the period 2014–2023. Intellectual capital efficiency is measured as VAIC and the components of intellectual capital efficiency (human, structural, and capital employed efficiencies). A panel regression model (fixed-effects, selected by the Hausman test) is estimated, and apart from the independent variable, firm size and liquidity are controlled. The study found a significant positive effect of intellectual capital efficiency on firm growth; that is, firms with a higher VAIC tend to have a higher annual growth. Quantitatively, every 1-point increase in VAIC is estimated to be associated with an increase in entity growth (on average) of several percentage points each year. Amongst the VAIC components, human capital efficiency stands out as the best contributor to growth (p < 0.01), whereas efficiency of the structural and capital employed contributes weakly and has statistically insignificant effects. The results confirm that boosting intellectual resources is the driving force behind superior growth for industrial firms. This emphasizes the need to invest in developing human capital and knowledge assets to maintain corporate growth in the Jordanian industrial sector.

Acknowledgment
This research was funded through the annual funding track by the Deanship of Scientific Research, from the vice presidency for graduate studies and scientific research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Grant No. KFU262433]. 

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study examines the relationship between governance quality, leverage, and firm performance and financial distress in Jordanian industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The industrial sector was chosen for this study due to its capital-intensive nature, reliance on external funding, and ongoing operational and market challenges in Jordan. The sample consists of 474 observations from 2014 to 2022. The quality of governance is represented by board size and board independence, leverage is represented by the debt-to-assets ratio, and firm performance is represented by gross margin. For financial distress, the integrated logit model indicates that board size is not statistically significant (coefficient = 0.078, p = 0.361), and the board independence is also not statistically significant (coefficient = 2.341, p = 0.076). Leverage, on the other hand, has a positive and significant association with financial distress (coefficient = 3.560, p = 0.001), while gross margin is negatively and significantly associated with financial distress (coefficient = –9.614, p < 0.001). The results suggest that financial distress for Jordanian industrial firms is primarily attributed to financing pressure and operating performance, and that the governance proxies used in this study do not adequately explain financial distress.

Acknowledgment
This research was funded through the annual funding track by the Deanship of Scientific Research, from the vice presidency for graduate studies and scientific research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Grant No. KFU263483].