Market capitalization and book value of leading companies: a bibliometric approach

Abstract

The objective of this study was to map and evaluate scientific production that studies the relationship between market value (market value) and book value (market-to-book), identifying its thematic evolution, collaboration networks, and gaps; and to contrast these findings with evidence from the Peruvian market. A descriptive-exploratory methodology was used on Scopus (2005–2024), with no language restrictions. Performance analysis (production, citations, authors, and journals) and science mapping (co-authorship by authors and countries, co-citation, and co-occurrence of keywords) were applied using Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer; the selection flow followed an adaptation of PRISMA. The final corpus included 317 documents. The results show that production is on an upward trend and has recently consolidated. The thematic map reveals five clusters: (i) value relevance with IFRS, earnings, Ohlson model, and book value; (ii) corporate finance (leverage, dividends, size); (iii) market performance (stock returns, Tobin's q); (iv) intellectual capital/intangible assets and disclosure; and (v) corporate governance/ownership structure. The international network is concentrated in the United States and the United Kingdom, with bridges to India, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. The most influential articles focus on value relevance and integrated reporting/IFRS. Substantively, there remains a wide gap between market value and book value, explained by unrecognized intangibles and expectations. In contrast, Peru's shallow and sectorally concentrated market exhibits high and volatile VM/VL ratios that are sensitive to macro factors. In conclusion, the field of research is mature and consistent: without better measurement and disclosure of intangibles, financial statements will continue to underestimate the economic value of firms, maintaining the MV/LV gap.