| Abstract [eng] |
The main purpose of this Master Thesis is to analyze the concept of company value and its relationship with the costs of Research and Development (R&D) activities in a theoretical aspect and to determine whether the costs Research and Development (R&D) activities affect the value of companies in the Northern European region. The Master Thesis is organized in three main parts: the analysis of literature, the empirical research and the results, conclusion and recommendations. Literature analysis reviews various concepts of enterprise value calculation. However, it was noticed that when adding elements of intangible assets or R&D costs to the analysis, the authors use the dependent variable - Tobin's Q value, which helps to better determine the value of the enterprise. Various study researches, that were reviewed, generally agree that R&D costs have positive and significant impact on enterprise value or financial performance. It was also confirmed that R&D expenses improve the company's financial indicators (profit, revenue growth), promote the company's development opportunities. Nevertheless, there are barely any study cases performed for European enterprises or in Northern European region in particular. This raised the need to research whether R&D expenses have an impact on enterprise value in Northern European region companies. The empirical research of this Master Thesis included 99 companies from Nasdaq OMX Nordic list during the 2018-2023 time period. The research method was regression analysis. Dependent variable was Tobin Q value, whereas R&D expenses was independent variable and financial leverage and company size were controlling variables. The regression analysis was performed using ordinary least squares model. The research findings concluded that there is positive and significant connection between R&D expenses and enterprise value in Northern European region. Controlling variable financial leverage was statistically significant, yet company size was not statistically significant. Other research findings include the conclusion that companies in health sector had the highest Tobin Q value and R&D expenditure as well. Evaluating the obtained results separately by sector, it was observed that the highest statistical significance was for companies in the industrial sector. The conclusions of Master Thesis have been listed and several suggestions have been proposed. |
