RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL USE EFFICIENCY ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AT RETAIL ENTERPRISES LISTED ON THE VIETNAMESE STOCK EXCHANGE

This study examines the effects of capital employed efficiency (CEE) and human capital efficiency (HCE), two key components of intellectual capital operationalized through Pulic’s Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) framework, on the financial performance of retail firms listed on the Vietnamese stock exchange, while controlling for firm size and the type of financial statements (separate versus consolidated). Drawing on an unbalanced panel of 34 listed retailers from 2016 to 2023, we estimate pooled OLS, fixed- and random-effects models, and generalized least squares to improve robustness under heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. Financial performance is measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and Tobin's Q. Results show that both CEE and HCE are positively and statistically significantly related to ROA, ROE, and Tobin's Q, implying that efficient use of invested capital and productive utilization of human resources jointly raise profitability and market valuation. Firm size is negatively associated with ROA but positively associated with Tobin's Q, suggesting that scale can bring coordination costs that dampen operating efficiency while strengthening growth expectations and valuation. Moreover, performance patterns vary by reporting structure: firms issuing consolidated statements display systematically different ROA and ROE outcomes relative to firms reporting only separate statements, highlighting the importance of financial statement type when interpreting VAIC-based indicators. Overall, the study provides retail-sector evidence on intellectual capital efficiency in Vietnam's emerging market and offers implications for managers, investors, and policymakers. Managers should balance capital allocation and working-capital discipline with investments in employee capability, incentives, and retention; investors can use CEE and HCE as complementary signals of value creation; and policymakers can support transparency and human-capital development to strengthen sector competitiveness. By focusing on listed retailers, the study enriches VAIC evidence for transitional economies and underscores that both tangible and human resource efficiency are strategic levers in retail competition.