The public sector is among the least addressed areas in intellectual capital (IC) research, and in this chapter, our aim is to better understand the specific needs of the public sector context regarding IC management. We argue that by better understanding these contextual characteristics, it is possible to develop both the theory and practice of IC. Our analysis shows that most IC research does not justify its choice of the public sector as its context. The reasons evinced in those studies choosing the public sector were mainly related to the use of public funding to create public value, a strong claim for transparency, the complexity of objectives, and, more recently, the ecosystemic role of the public sector and its obligation to support sustainable development. The central argument of the chapter is the need to better understand the special characteristics of public value creation when applying IC theory in the public sector to support the management of public organizations and in managing public services.