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This paper analyses the determinants of key inputs for the explicit discounted cash flow (DCF) or the implicit capitalisation models, namely the discount rates and the capitalisation rates. We also study the factors affecting the implied growth rate of the net operating income (NOI).

We make use of a rich database for the commercial real estate market in the US that covers a long time period (2002–2024) and over 60 metropolitan markets. Given that the figures are appraisal-based, we use a common desmoothing approach and analyse the determinants of discount rates, capitalisation rates and growth rates using regression analysis.

On average, the discount rate in gateway markets is 89 basis points lower than in non-gateway markets. A similar difference is observed for capitalisation rates (93 basis points). Inflation has an immediate negative impact on capitalisation and discount rates due to the delayed adjustment of the rental income, but the effect turns positive over time. With a lag, real GDP growth reduces both rates, as expectations of economic growth reduce risk premia. Real interest rates consistently increase capitalisation, discount and growth rates through higher borrowing costs and portfolio reallocations.

The investment method to valuation is widely used in practice. By shedding additional light on the determinants of key inputs when using the explicit DCF of implicit capitalisation models, namely the discount and capitalisation rates, the results of this study should provide important information to appraisers and policymakers.

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of key inputs needed when appraising a commercial real estate property with an income approach. In particular, it not only explores the impacts of macroeconomic variables on discount and capitalisation rates but also those of various types of properties. As such, the results of this study should have important implications in practice.

Lived mental health experience (LMHE) is a term describing the direct impact of a mental health problem or being a mental health carer. This study aims to qualitatively explore how UK-based trainee clinical psychologists with LMHE navigate doctoral training.

Trainee clinical psychologists (TCPs; N = 12) who self-reported LMHE completed a semi-structured interview which was analysed using constructivist grounded theory (CGT).

The end model had six main categories: the pressured system; narratives about LMHE within the profession; developing trainee identity and sense of self; disclosing LMHE within the professional context; building safe, balanced and reciprocal relationships with other professionals; drawing upon LMHE within clinical practice. The end model is visually depicted as an hourglass to represent receiving and internalising external information which influences identity development and bidirectionally filters outwards to shape interactions and relationships.

Findings have implications for TCPs, course centres and using trusts.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first CGT study to qualitatively explore how TCPs with LMHE navigate the holistic trajectory of doctoral clinical psychology training.

This study aims to reveal the mechanism of CEO overconfidence in the digital transformation of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative (SRDI) enterprises, thereby enriching research related to upper echelons theory and corporate digital transformation.

This study uses listed SRDI companies in China from 2017 to 2022 as a sample and adopts a fixed-effects regression model to analyze the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of CEO overconfidence on corporate digital transformation.

First, CEO overconfidence significantly promotes SRDI enterprises' digital transformation. Second, according to the “cognition-behavior-outcome” model, we found that entrepreneurial orientation plays a mediating role. Third, based on the principle of procedural rationality and the interaction perspective between the CEO and the executive team, we introduce the heterogeneity of the executive team as a moderating variable. Our findings indicate that age heterogeneity within the executive team has a negative moderating effect, whereas educational and occupational heterogeneities have positive moderating effects.

This study expands on earlier research that focuses primarily on CEO demographic characteristics. It enriches the analytical perspective of upper echelons theory on corporate digital transformation by analyzing the psychological characteristics of CEOs, that is, overconfidence and its mediating pathways. Moreover, this study goes beyond the previous literature that does not differentiate between CEOs and executive teams by introducing the concept of CEOs' interactions with the executive team and including the heterogeneity of the executive team as a moderating variable in the literature. Thus, continuing to deepen the application of upper echelons theory to corporate digital transformation. Additionally, this study contributes to the literature on the positive consequences of overconfidence.

The purpose of this study is to examine the audit efficiency and timeliness of Big 4 auditors relative to non-Big 4 auditors, where audit efficiency is defined as the auditor’s ability to conduct an audit more quickly or with fewer resources while still achieving effective outcomes.

The authors use audit report lags (also referred to as audit delay) as a proxy for audit timeliness and efficiency, controlling for audit quality and audit fees (audit input). The authors use a propensity-score matching (PSM) approach to construct a pseudorandom sample in which each non-Big 4 client is matched with a similar Big 4 client based on their characteristics and audit quality, to control for potential endogeneity related to self-selection bias in this setting.

The authors find that non-Big 4 auditors are associated with shorter audit delays than Big 4 auditors. Additional analysis of the matched sample reveals that non-Big 4 auditors charge lower fees than Big 4 auditors do after controlling for the Big 4 premium. These findings do not support the notion that Big 4 auditors conduct audits more efficiently than non-Big 4 auditors do.

These results could be of interest to the management of public firms, audit committees, investors and regulators; provide valuable insights into the performance of audit firms in varying client environments; and contribute to a better understanding of audit timeliness and efficiency.

This paper aims to examine how audit report lags and audit fees increased for firms that engage in related party transactions (RPTs) around the introduction of Auditing Standard No. 18 (AS18). AS18, which was introduced in 2014, requires following a risk-based approach and additional audit procedures in auditing RPTs and is expected to eliminate the pre-existing inadequate audit effort in auditing RPTs documented earlier by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Using eight years of hand-collected RPT data from annual proxy statements (form DEF 14A) from the SEC EDGAR database for a sample based on S&P 1,500 firms, this paper examines the effect of AS18 on audit effort using two measures, audit fees and audit report lags. The paper conducts the analysis using both unmatched samples and entropy-balanced regression models.

This paper finds that audit report lags and audit fees do not significantly increase after AS18 for RPT firms in general. However, when this paper classifies RPTs into Business RPTs and Non-Business RPTs and finds that compared to non-RPT firms, Business RPT firms experience a significant increase in their audit report lags and audit fees after AS18. On the other hand, no such association is observed when comparing non-Business RPT firms with non-RPT firms. In addition, this paper shows that this significant association is only observable in firms with weaker corporate governance mechanisms.

The findings shed light on the role of auditing standards in enhancing audit effort over risky transactions and the role of corporate governance in moderating the relationship between auditing standards and audit effort.

This study is the first, up to the best of the authors’ knowledge, that examines whether the additional required procedures associated with AS18 will result in a significant increase in audit effort after AS18 or not.

The finance sector and property market challenges in some global regions have been linked to inefficient property valuation practices. As a result, global valuation professional organisations have set up standards and norms to promote efficient and transparent operations in the property valuation industry. Despite these concerns, valuation industries in some countries still face challenges that threaten their smooth operations. One of such is Nigeria, which faces various problems attributable to its valuation process and regulatory system. Consequently, this paper aims to examine the valuation process in Nigeria with a bid to identify the weaknesses in its valuation process and how it contributes to problems identified in the literature.

A qualitative research approach was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 valuers across different segments of the valuation industry in Nigeria. The data were subjected to thematic analysis using Nvivo 12 software.

Our findings indicate a fundamentally weak valuation system and regulatory system marked by an opaque engagement process, underpricing of valuation services, inefficient domestication of international valuation standards, poor implementation and monitoring system and concerns about the training and certifications to meet global norms. These identified weaknesses contribute to and fuel problems such as client influence and valuation inaccuracy, among others.

The study has some implications for the valuation professional organisations in Nigeria. The valuation professional organisations should devise systems and enact standards that go beyond solely replicating the IVS and RICS Red Book to effective domestication to suit local norms. Given the inefficient implementation and monitoring system, the use of proptech that supplements legal instruments needs to be adopted. Furthermore, the regulations should be strengthened in line with the trends of sustainability, duty of care and use of data as advocated by the IVSC. This will promote trust in the system and allow global stakeholders to transact more confidently with the Nigerian industry, as the current set-up does not evoke sufficient confidence in the system to deliver excellent and transparent valuation assignments.

This study provides perspective from an untransparent property market on the implications of a poor regulatory system and valuation process for valuers and stakeholders who may rely on valuations conducted in such an environment for decision-making. The findings from this study potentially provide input for the valuation professional organisation in Nigeria in identifying the gaps in their framework and current practices and providing some suggestions to promote improvements.

This study reviews and discusses the accounting literature that analyzes the role of auditors and enforcers in the context of fraud.

This literature review includes both qualitative and quantitative studies, based on the idea that the findings from different research paradigms can shed light on the complex interactions between different financial reporting controls. The authors use a mixed-methods research synthesis and select 64 accounting journal articles to analyze the main proxies for fraud, the stages of the fraud process under investigation and the roles played by auditors and enforcers.

The study highlights heterogeneity with respect to the terms and concepts used to capture the fraud phenomenon, a fragmentation in terms of the measures used in quantitative studies and a low level of detail in the fraud analysis. The review also shows a limited number of case studies and a lack of focus on the interaction and interplay between enforcers and auditors.

This study outlines directions for future accounting research on fraud.

The analysis underscores the need for the academic community, policymakers and practitioners to work together to prevent the destructive economic and social consequences of fraud in an increasingly complex and interconnected environment.

This study differs from previous literature reviews that focus on a single monitoring mechanism or deal with fraud in a broadly manner by discussing how the accounting literature addresses the roles and the complex interplay between enforcers and auditors in the context of accounting fraud.

The application of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams is limited in practice, partially due to the lack of accurate shear strength prediction models. This study aims to develop a reliable shear strength prediction model for SFRC beams.

In this study, an artificial neural network was employed to predict the shear strength of SFRC beams, utilizing a comprehensive database of 562 experimental studies. Multiple neural networks were established with varying hyperparameters, and their performance was evaluated using statistical parameters.

The neural network with 11 neurons showed superior results than other networks. The performance evaluation, efficiency and accuracy of the selected neural network were examined using margin of deviation, k-fold cross-validation, Shapley analysis, sensitivity analysis and parametric analysis. The proposed artificial neural network model accurately predicts the shear strength and outperforms other existing equations.

This research contributes to overcoming the limitations of existing prediction models for shear strength of SFRC beams without stirrups by developing a highly accurate model based on ANN. Utilizing a comprehensive database and rigorous evaluation techniques enhances the reliability and applicability of the proposed model in practical engineering applications.

The role of incubators in promoting startup growth has received close research attention, but the findings paint a conflicting picture. This study aims to reduce the ambiguity surrounding incubator impact by exploring how incubators can support startups with business model innovations – a significant growth factor for startups neglected in the incubation literature.

Using a multiple-case study design, the authors conducted semistructured interviews with incubator directors and startup founders, offering insights into their experiences. The transcripts were coded following the Gioia method.

This study shows that incubatees are exposed to and struggle with business model innovation. Therefore, this study explores how incubators can support startups in innovating their business models.

This research reveals the importance of addressing the psychological needs of entrepreneurs in incubators. By offering emotional support, incubators can create a positive psychological environment, helping entrepreneurs face fears and challenges. This highlights the human side of entrepreneurship, which has not been considered in the incubation literature.

Incubator directors can strengthen their programmes’ impact by offering tailored support for business model innovation and facilitating network connections. Policymakers should encourage ecosystem collaboration and allocate resources to effective programmes.

This research fills a gap in the incubation literature by emphasizing the significance and need for support for business model innovation. This study also offers original insights into the psychological dimensions of entrepreneurship.

New Zealand (NZ) has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with the refurbishment of existing buildings and infrastructure playing a crucial role in this endeavour. This research aims to evaluate current zero-carbon refurbishment (ZCR) practices and collect expert perspectives to improve these practices across the country.

Employing a qualitative approach, this study involves semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including construction managers, engineers, cost managers, quantity surveyors and sustainability experts. It also includes an analysis of industry documents to enrich the findings.

The research highlights effective strategies and tools currently used for achieving ZCR, with a focus on carbon assessment and life cycle costing techniques. Key challenges identified include the need for accurate building data, access to consistent and reliable carbon data sources, standardised methodologies for carbon assessment, specialist involvement and enhanced collaboration and integration. Based on these insights, the study offers practical recommendations to facilitate informed decision-making and help stakeholders select cost-effective ZCR options, thereby fostering sustainable practices in NZ and potentially influencing global standards.

This study provides valuable insights into the practical aspects and critical considerations necessary for successful ZCR projects. By fostering a deeper understanding of these elements, it assists in making informed decisions that advance sustainable practices in the refurbishment sector.