Abstract
Economics-related theories propound that intangible assets drive corporate financial performance. The resource-based theory, for example, posits that firms in a similar line of business have different performances (Marzo, 2014), Because intangibles are one of the factors measuring the financial performance of the company, they influence the decisions of managers and investors; Therefore the main objective of this study is to examine the roles of intangible assets and liabilities in the financial performance of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The sample of this study is drawn from 135 Iranian companies over a eight-year period spanning from 2011 to 2018. The results show that at the 95% confidence level there is a significant positive relationship between unrecorded intangible assets and financial performance of a firm and a significant negative relationship between unrecorded intangible liabilities and financial performance of a firm. The intensity of this relationship is stronger for unrecorded intangible assets (relative to the return on assets index) than for unrecorded intangible liabilities relative to firm performance.