Purpose – Intellectual capital (IC) plays a crucial role in the university sector, which could be considered a proper knowledge institution (Ramirez and Gordillo, 2014). In Italy IC report is not mandatory for universities. Nevertheless, several institutions include IC information within their social reports (Ricci et al., 2014). The purpose of the research is twofold. First, it aims to investigate the amount and nature of IC voluntary disclosure in Italian universities’ social reports, as well as to examine the influence of the size of universities in IC reporting. Second, it aims to examine the internal perspective of Italian universities’ General Directors on IC management and disclosure. Design/methodology/approach – This study answers to Bezhani’s (2010) call for comparative research, by applying the same methodological approach. Content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004) has been used to determine the amount and the nature of IC disclosure in a group of 17 Italian university social reports issued before February 2013. In addition, an on-line questionnaire has been submitted to all university General Directors, in order to investigate the internal perspective of Italian universities on IC disclosure and the opportunity of establishing an IC mandatory report in universities. Originality/value – To our knowledge, no previous research has been conducted on IC reporting with regard to Italian universities yet. Thus, the current paper contributes to creating new expertise with concern to IC reporting in the university sector. Also, it gives insights into General Directors’ views on IC management and disclosure as well as on IC mandatory reporting. Finally, the study fosters international comparative research on IC reporting in universities by providing the Italian picture. Practical implications – This work encourages Italian universities to enquire on the benefits achieved by IC reporting. Moreover, the paper gives recommendations for additional IC reporting indicators with regard to the university sector, in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of IC assets. Furthermore, the study prompts policy-makers to enquire on the utility of mandatory IC reporting by universities. In doing so, it opens up new horizons, both for future research and policies.
Keywords – Intellectual Capital, University, Social Report