External Appraisal Research Articles

CEO reputation and shareholder voting

This paper examines the influence of CEO reputation on corporate proxy voting. Relying on prestigious business awards (through which the CEO is elevated to superstar status) as salient shocks to CEO reputation, we find that shareholders in aggregate, and mutual funds in particular, are more likely to vote with management (i.e., against shareholder proposals) when the CEO is a superstar. We use a battery of matching procedures to mitigate the concern that these results are driven by selection. We further show that shareholder proposals, especially contested ones and those with positive ISS recommendations, are significantly more likely to fail when the CEO is a superstar. Our results suggest that investors are sensitive to the external appraisal conveyed by the superstar status and prefer not to oppose management.

Internal and external appraisals of analytical writing. A proposal for assessing development and potential improvement

Abstract This paper introduces Developing analytical writing (DAW), a model of text analysis aimed at capturing how social expectancies of analytical writing become part of students’ linguistic literacy. DAW proposes a multilayer analysis of text features on repeated text production prompted by the same and different topics, control for pedagogical input, and researcher- and reader-based evaluations of text quality. We revise DAW previous implementations that delved into lexical, syntactic-discursive, and structural aspects of analytical essays as indexes for developing writing proficiency. We focus thereafter on a current application of DAW to assess content-related dimensions: explicitness of a central standpoint, flexibility of writers’ positioning, and expression of reflective thinking. Analyses revealed that the probability of explicitness and reflexiveness increases from elementary to higher levels of schooling, while the probability of flexible positioning appeared conditioned by text topic and pedagogical input. The three dimensions showed stronger effect of instruction on high schoolers’ than on elementary and university students’ texts. Regression analyses support a foundational role of development and a significant contribution of the assessed dimensions to an appraisal of text quality. DAW facilitates distinguishing analytical text features that improve in the course of development from those sensitive to pedagogical scaffolding.

Business intelligence and geographic information systems in the banking industry: A case study of home loan valuation

This case is designed to illustrate how to utilize a business intelligence framework and a geographic information system (GIS) to make better decisions in the banking industry. The case started when Jong, the senior certified analytic professional, and Kampu, the GIS solutions expert were drafting a proposal presentation to help ABC Bank of Thailand improve its home loan appraisal process. The current appraisal process was time-consuming and the appraisal value from the internal and external appraisers were very different as the appraisal process relied heavily on the opinions and judgements from all appraisal staffs. Currently, there was a home loan application pending for Hugo, the appraisal manager of ABC Bank of Thailand, to make the decision on the final appraised value. This was a great opportunity for Jong and Kampu to revisit the current appraisal process and to demonstrate how business intelligence and GIS could aid in the appraisal decision. Additionally, the proposed GIS-based BI dashboard allowed the appraisal team to the analyze data-related to the appraised property in real-time. Eventually, Jong and Kampu had to make a decision on what appraised value Hugo should recommend to the home loan committee members.

Understanding emotional responses to visual aesthetic artefacts: the SECMEA mechanisms

While many models attempt to explain the aesthetic experience, most limit themselves to art as their focal point and only a few look into why we arrive at a certain response to a visual aesthetic object. This article attempts to offer an extension to the current models by focusing on the mechanisms that induce emotions in relation to visual aesthetic objects. It takes Juslin’s (2013) BRECVEM mechanisms – developed for the domain of music – as its basis. In this article, Juslin’s mechanisms are adapted to the visual domain, resulting in six different emotion-evoking mechanisms: startle reflex, evaluative conditioning, emotional contagion, mental imagery, syntactic expectancy and external appraisal. The authors give an overview of frameworks and empirical studies, demonstrating each of these mechanisms in relation to visual aesthetic objects (visual art as well as advertising and product design). The article’s focus on emotion-inducing mechanisms and existing empirical research provides a basis for improving empirical testing of emotional responses to a broad range of visual aesthetic objects.

Concepts with consequences in geomorphology: A fluvial perspective

AbstractImagined concepts – made real by down‐to‐earth field verification, validated modelling, and using available technologies and empirical methods – are fundamental to research outcomes in geomorphology. This article reviews the functions that consequential concepts have served: as overall driving and embracing stimuli, or playing permissive roles at lower levels within projects; when they have come to the fore and declined in usage; how knowledge of them gets spread and tested; and where needs seem to be driving for the future. Within fluvial geomorphology there is demonstrably a multiplicity of conceptual approaches. Modern times also now involve greater external appraisal including financial and management control and research and teaching quality assessments. These are taking place in parallel with novel environmental changes that themselves pose new needs for hazard understandings and safeguarding. Challenges to address for practical reasons include forecasting the likely future geomorphic effects of climate change, tracking system impacts from the spread of human hardware across landscapes, and monitoring pollutant incursions into fluvial systems. Nevertheless, conceptual progress in understanding is also fundamentally dependent on advancing ‘blue skies’ research objectives. In a changing world, geomorphology has to pursue holistic goals and the multi‐temporal and multi‐scale spatial appreciation of landform development, and how this relates to other changing global systems, but also to grow what it conceives of doing for the public good.

The Easy Life of Superstar CEOS: Evidence from Shareholder Proposals and Mutual Fund Voting

This paper examines the influence of CEO reputation on corporate proxy voting. Relying on prestigious business awards (through which the CEO is elevated to superstar status) as salient shocks to CEO reputation, we find that shareholders in aggregate, and mutual funds in particular, are more likely to vote with management (i.e., against shareholder proposals) when the CEO is a superstar. We use a battery of matching procedures to mitigate the concern that these results are driven by selection. We further show that shareholder proposals, especially contested ones and those with positive ISS recommendations, are significantly more likely to fail when the CEO is a superstar. Our results suggest that investors are sensitive to the external appraisal conveyed by the superstar status and prefer not to oppose management.

The role of investment property appraisal in European real estate companies

Purpose This paper aims to examine the connection between appraisals of investment properties and earnings properties in companies from two perspectives: what kinds of companies employ the most reputable appraisers and how appraisers produce estimations. Design/methodology/approach The research uses annual reports of European Union (EU) publicly traded real estate companies and examines the period 2007-2016. Findings The contribution of this study lies in establishing that some indicators and features of real estate companies affect the choice of appraiser and also in illustrating differences in the results of property valuations. In short, smaller companies with weaker performance are less willing to use external valuation, and external appraisers produce more conservative estimations for investment properties. Practical implications The research produces beneficial information for investors and other stakeholders interested in the real estate industry. Originality/value This is the first novel study to examine the link between appraisals of investment properties and earnings properties in companies in detail.

Pomiędzy ewaluacją i akredytacją. Polska percepcja niemieckich doświadczeń w kontekście polityk publicznych

<p class="Textbody"><span>W artykule została podjęta próba</span><span> zaprezentowania kluczowych aspektów odnoszących się do ewaluacji i akredytacji w niemieckim szkolnictwie wyższym, jakie ujawniły się w okresie implementacji procedur akredytacyjnych i budowania ogólnokrajowego systemu nadzoru. Istotą rozważań było wykazanie relacji pomiędzy ewaluacją i akredytacją z punktu widzenia polityk publicznych, dla których – oczywiście z pewnym uproszczeniem – akredytacja jest narzędziem oceny zewnętrznej, a ewaluacja co do zasady jest narzędziem oceny środowiskowej i wewnętrznej. Stąd też rozważania nie orientują się na kwestię modelu ewaluacji ani rodzajów akredytacji, procedur, specyfiki agencji akredytacyjnych. Przyjęto, że funkcjonują one zarówno w murach uczelni, jak i na niemieckim rynku akredytacyjnym, bez rozstrzygania o ich właściwościach. Autor skupił się na ukazaniu specyfiki rozwiązań niemieckich, uwzględniając jednocześnie odniesienia do polskich realiów.</span></p>

Energy Efficiency Information and Valuation Practices in Rental Housing

The consensus in the academic literature is that energy efficiency is associated with transaction value premiums, but it is not clear to what extent property appraisers take account of this. We decompose external appraisals of rental housing by international valuation firms in England and the Netherlands in two waves, keeping the samples of valued homes constant between these years. We find a notable change in the behavior of external property appraisers. In England, energy performance does not impact assessed values in 2012, while estimation results for 2015 show a significant discount in assessed values for D-, E- and F- relative to C-labeled dwellings. For the Netherlands, we do not observe a significant relationship between energy efficiency and assessed values in 2010, but in 2015 we find that more energy efficiency leads to higher external valuations.

Are Impairments and Unrealized Losses Equally (Un)timely?

We compare the timeliness of U.S. GAAP impairments to the timeliness of IFRS unrealized losses for investment property. Using the reporting of economic losses by U.S. and U.K. real estate firms around the time of the financial crisis, our results show that unrealized losses are substantially more timely than impairments. This result is not explained by the presence of U.S. GAAP valuation buffers, the use of undiscounted cash flows in impairment testing, the use of Big 4 auditors or the use of external appraisers, and it also holds when extending the sample to include IFRS firms from other EU countries. We argue that while both U.S. GAAP and IFRS use fair value measurements to evaluate economic losses, the recurring use of fair value measurements under the IFRS revaluation model leads to a routine implementation process, established valuation parameters, and increased investments in the valuation infrastructure. As a result, unrealized losses are likely to possess more timeliness than impairments. By showing how similar underlying transactions lead to different reporting outcomes, we contribute to the comparability literature and challenge the view that the fair value and the historical cost models provide equally timely information when the prices of non-financial assets decline.

Analysis of Factors Determining the Competence of Guards

It is actual to elucidate the contribution of each factor to the professional competence of guards and the infl uence of these factors on their superior’s appraisal. Therefore we hypothesize that assessment of the contribution of the guard’s personal features into his professional competence and their infl uence on their appraisal by superiors will be helpful in staffi ng private security services and improving their working qualities. The object of the current study was the psychobiological and professional factors determining the professional competence of a security worker. The aim of the work was to establish the role of separate factors determining the professional competence of security workers, as well as to study the professional competence of security workers in formativeness of superior’s appraisal and psychobiological factors, qualitative indices and their analysis. The study subject was 118 security workers and their four direct superiors.Factor analysis applied for competence assessment of security workers has shown that in internal appraisal (of summarized identifi ed variables) the highest value belongs to psychic qualities (22%) as well as age and physical development (20%), followed by physical preparedness (16%), professional activity (15%), theoretical and practical preparedness (14%) and fi ghting abilities (13%). The (external) appraisal by security service superiors, when only the observation and questioning methods are applied, are not suffi ciently informative and reliable. The factor of the-oretical and practical preparedness has been found to have a similar weight both in external and internal appraisal, however, a number of factors, such as psychic qualities, physical preparedness and fi ghting abilities, in internal and external appraisal have a cardinally opposite value.Keywords: security service, competence, factors.

Larger and greener: Disentangling the industry effect on proactive environmental strategy in the Italian context

This research aims to investigate the influence of the industrial context on the implementation of proactive environmental strategies in listed firms, by verifying how the industry environmental impact affects the development of proactive environmental strategies (PES). Prior research on PES identified firm size as one of the most relevant and universally accepted antecedent, but recently a new stream of research has underlined the importance of the industry context. Due to the difficulties of studying environmental issues in SMEs, extant research on the role of the environmental impact of industries on PES within SMEs is lacking. For this reason, this study investigates the influence of the industrial context on PES in SMEs, to verify how it affects PES. Beginning from the assumption that more resources imply a higher engagement in proactive environmental strategies (PES), this study verifies, through the industry-context perspective, that in environmentally critical industries, SMEs can be more proactive than large corporations. The results indicate that the adoption of PES is principally subject to the industry effect and that belonging to an industry characterised by a significant environmental impact fosters the adoption of a more proactive approach to environmental issues. The relation is confirmed for both SMEs and large firms, not only within the two categories but also transversely. Thus, this research shows that SMEs working in environmentally critical industries show significant degrees of interest, motivation, and implementation of environmental management issues. This highlights that SMEs in environmentally critical industries place relative importance on managerial implications, risk management, and compliance, are less interested in external appraisal or initiatives that require huge investments.

Experiences of convergence external appraisal of competency in core basic nursing skills in final year nursing students

Experiences of convergence external appraisal of competency in core basic nursing skills in final year nursing students

Assessing the impacts of a donor-funded agricultural extension service on smallholders in Umzimkhulu, South Africa

This paper examines the impact of Lima Rural Development Foundation's (hereafter Lima) agricultural extension services to disadvantaged communities in rural South Africa. Lima's farmer support programme aims to improve smallholders' food production practices, connect them to appropriate markets, and stimulate rural agriculture's potential for creating sustainable livelihoods in some of South Africa's poorest regions. Lima believes that successful non-governmental organisation-driven agricultural extension for resource-scarce farmers is largely dependent upon a community-based model that integrates technical advice, market linkages, and access to appropriate technology, and the ongoing provision of services over time. Lima's farmer support model is briefly outlined, then an external appraisal of Lima's extension activities draws from an econometric analysis of 182 farm households surveyed in Umzimkhulu by a University of KwaZulu-Natal researcher in November to December 2013. Farmers surveyed included those who had received Lima's extension services (clients) and those who had not. Descriptive statistics computed for five outcome variables were compared across clients and a subset of non-clients that had observed characteristics similar to those of clients. The impact of extension services on each of these variables was estimated using two-stage least squares regression with an instrumental variable to account for selection bias. The survey results show that Lima's extension services had significant positive impacts on the outcomes. Discussion of results serves to guide programme design and practice for successful extension activities, and recommendations aim to inform policies for rural agricultural development.

Accounting Discretion and Purchase Price Allocation After Acquisitions

The recent movement in standards setting toward fair-value-based accounting beyond financial assets and liabilities calls for more empirical evidence on fair-value measurement, especially that of intangible assets. This article studies the initial valuation of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets after acquisitions. We find that the allocation of purchase price to goodwill and identifiable intangible assets is related to the economic determinants of the valuation. However, it is also significantly affected by managerial incentives arising from the differential treatments of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 142. The same managerial discretions are not exhibited in the purchase price allocation prior to SFAS 142, when goodwill and other intangibles are both amortized. These findings suggest that unverifiable fair value measures are associated with the underlying economics but also deviate from the true values in the presence of management reporting incentives. Further analysis suggests that external appraisers constrain managerial discretion in intangible asset valuation to an extent but do not completely eliminate it.

Care-seeking decisions for worsening symptoms in heart failure: a qualitative metasynthesis

Over 50 % of heart failure (HF) patients delay seeking help for worsening symptoms until these reach acute levels and require emergency hospitalisation. This metasynthesis aimed to identify and explore factors influencing timely care-seeking in patients with HF. Electronic databases searched were MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed journal articles, written in English, and reported perspectives of HF patients following qualitative data collection and analysis. Forty articles underwent analysis following the approach of Thomas and Harden. Leventhal's self-regulatory model (SRM) was used to organise the literature. Much of the literature fits within the SRM; however, this model did not account for all factors that influence patients' care-seeking for worsening symptoms. Factors not accounted for included patients' appraisals of previous care-seeking experiences, perceived system and provider barriers to accessing care, and the influence of external appraisals. When added to factors already represented in the model, such as misattribution of symptoms, not identifying with HF diagnosis, cognitive status, lack of understanding information provided, adaptation to symptoms, and emotional responses, a more comprehensive account of patients' decision-making was revealed. This metasynthesis identified factors, as yet unaccounted for, in a prominent model, and has suggested a more comprehensive framework for addressing care-seeking in HF patients. This information can be used to tailor education, communication, and service initiatives to improve HF patients' responses to worsening symptoms and target those most at risk of delay.

Recognition Versus Disclosure of Fair Values

This paper examines pricing differences across recognized and disclosed fair values. We build on prior literature by examining two theoretical causes of such differences: lower reliability of the disclosed information, and/or investors’ higher related information processing costs. We examine European real estate firms reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which require that fair values for investment properties, our sample firms’ key operating asset, either be recognized on the balance sheet or disclosed in the footnotes. Consistent with prior research, we predict and find a lower association between equity prices and disclosed relative to recognized investment property fair values, reflecting a discount assigned to disclosed fair values. We then predict and find that this discount is mitigated by lower information processing costs (proxied via high analyst following), and some support that it is also mitigated by higher reliability (proxied via use of external appraisals). These latter results are documented using subsample analyses to test one attribute (either information processing costs or reliability) while holding the other constant. Overall, these findings are consistent with fair value reliability and information processing costs providing complementary explanations for observed pricing discounts assessed on disclosed accounting amounts.

Asset revaluations and earnings management: Evidence from Australian companies

This paper examines the association between asset revaluations and discretionary accruals (a proxy for earnings management) using a sample of the largest 300 Australian companies. The results from this study indicate that the revaluation of non-current assets is positively associated with discretionary accruals. This finding is consistent with the argument that revaluation of assets reflects higher agency problems in the form of increased earnings management. Additional findings are that discretionary accruals are higher for firms reporting their non-current assets at fair values appraised by directors, than those of firms that use external appraisers. As well, the choice of auditors and the strength of corporate governance can constrain the opportunistic behaviour of managers in the accounting choice to revalue non-current assets.

Care-seeking decisions for worsening symptoms in Heart Failure: a qualitative metasynthesis

Over 50 % of heart failure (HF) patients delay seeking help for worsening symptoms until these reach acute levels and require emergency hospitalisation. This metasynthesis aimed to identify and explore factors influencing timely care-seeking in patients with HF. Electronic databases searched were MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed journal articles, written in English, and reported perspectives of HF patients following qualitative data collection and analysis. Forty articles underwent analysis following the approach of Thomas and Harden. Leventhal’s self-regulatory model (SRM) was used to organise the literature. Much of the literature fits within the SRM; however, this model did not account for all factors that influence patients’ care-seeking for worsening symptoms. Factors not accounted for included patients’ appraisals of previous care-seeking experiences, perceived system and provider barriers to accessing care, and the influence of external appraisals. When added to factors already represented in the model, such as misattribution of symptoms, not identifying with HF diagnosis, cognitive status, lack of understanding information provided, adaptation to symptoms, and emotional responses, a more comprehensive account of patients’ decision-making was revealed. This metasynthesis identified factors, as yet unaccounted for, in a prominent model, and has suggested a more comprehensive framework for addressing care-seeking in HF patients. This information can be used to tailor education, communication, and service initiatives to improve HF patients’ responses to worsening symptoms and target those most at risk of delay.

Inappropriate use of continuous cardiac telemetry and its potential adverse impact on human resources management and financial burdens

Purpose: Over 50% of heart failure (HF) patients delay seeking help for worsening symptoms until these reach acute levels and require emergency hospitalisation. This metasynthesis aimed to identify andexplore factors influencing timely care-seeking in patients with HF. Methods: Electronic databases searched were Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL. Studies were included if they were peer reviewed journal articles written in English, and reported perspectives of HF patients following qualitative data collection and analysis. Forty articles underwent analysis following the approach of Thomas andHarden. Leventhal’s self-regulatory model (SRM) was used to organise the literature. Results: Much of the literature fit within the SRM, however this model did not account for all factors that influence patients’ care-seeking for worsening symptoms. Factors not accounted for included patients’ appraisals of previous careseeking experiences, perceived system and provider barriers to accessing care, and the influence of external appraisals. When added to factors already represented in themodel, such asmisattribution of symptoms, not identifyingwithHF diagnosis, cognitive status, lack of understanding information provided, adaptation to symptoms, and emotional responses, a more comprehensive account of patients’ decision-making was revealed. Implications: This metasynthesis identified factors, as yet unaccounted for, in a prominent model, and has suggested a more comprehensive framework for addressing care-seeking in HF patients. This information can be used to tailor education, communication, and service initiatives to improve HF patients’ responses to worsening symptoms.