The effect of Intangible Assets on the Firm’s Financial Performance and Mediating Role of the Cost Stickiness in Tehran Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of the cost stickiness in the relationship between intangible assets and the financial performance of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. One hundred and eighty four (184)  companies in the period from 2007 to 2016 are analyzed through the SEM-PLS method. The research models and hypotheses are first implemented and reviewed by year and once in general by industry. Finally, to evaluate the significance of the effect of the mediating variable, the Sobel test is used. In order to determine the strength of its effect, we applied VAF statistics. While our findings confirm that intangible assets have a positive effect on the financial performance of companies only in 2010, this relationship is significant in almost all industries, in which the automotive, parts, and machinery industry witnesses the most influential effect, compared to other industries. In addition,  costs stickiness as a mediating variable in the relationship between intangible assets and financial performance is not significant in any of the years. However, the mediating effect of cost stickiness in the whole period by industry is significant and 59.83% of the effect of intangible assets on companies' financial performance is explained indirectly by the cost stickiness. Finally, the effect of cost stickiness on the financial performance of companies is significant in all industries except for the Metallic Mineral industry.