INTRODUCTION
Intangible resources range from the intellectualproperty rights of patents, trademarks, copyright and registered design; through contracts; trade secrets; public knowledge such as scientific works;to the people dependent, or subjective resources of know-how; networks; organizational culture, and the reputation of product and company.The difficulty encountered by the accountancy profession when it attempts to value ‘homegrown’ brand-names which have not been the subject of an exchange (Barwise, et al., 1989) raises the more fundamental question regarding the significance of any quantification of shareholders’ funds which does not recognize the value of intangible assets. For example the valuation of the shareholders’ funds of a private, as opposed to a state owned, university is only trivially related to the value of the land and buildings which it owns; the resources which are of strategic significance are reputation, research momentum, etc., as it