The impact of intellectual capital and market capitalization on corporate investment decisions: exploring the mediating and moderating effect of knowledge sharing and the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose This paper examines the effect of intellectual capital (IC) and market capitalization (MC) on corporate investment decisions (ID) through the mediating and moderating effects of knowledge/information sharing (KS) and the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach With the use of SPSS 26 and SmartPLS version 3.0, the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique is employed with 1,036 observations to examine the effects. Findings Our findings show that IC and social interactions (SI) have a positive effect on KS. KS affects positively both MC and ID. KS has the mediating and moderating effects while the Covid-19 has the moderating impact on ID. Practical implications This research suggests that company leaders should understand the important role of IC and MC in enhancing ID through KS. They should pay attention to MC to enhance their investment and SI among employees, partners, consumers and authorities should be encouraged. Originality/value This research contributes to the existing literature by employing the perceptual scale to examine the effect of IC and MC, the mediating and moderating effects of KS, and analyze the moderating role of the Covid-19 on ID. It also expands the current models by including the Covid-19 and MC to clarify the ID determinants. New measurements of MC and the Covid-19 constructed are also another contribution.