JARAF Editorial, Volume 4 (1) July 2009
Journal of Applied Research in Accounting and Finance (JARAF), Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009
6 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2009 Last revised: 18 Aug 2014
Date Written: July 16, 2009
Abstract
Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic was of a person who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. The turbulent state of global financial markets in recent past has resulted in an enormous number of instances where it has not been possible to be reasonably certain about either. This represents a substantial challenge to scholars and practitioners of finance and related disciplines.
While understanding the sources and dimensions of value consistently represents a deep intellectual challenge, the extraordinary volatility and uncertainty evident in financial markets in recent past has served to materially increase the difficulty of this fundamentally important form of enquiry. The contents of this edition of JARAF have been crafted with this in particular in mind.
This volume commences with an article by Professor Damodaran on the problem of leasing obligations in the context of valuation. Some problems are perennial, market volatility or not and this article provides comprehensive insights into the process of adjusting key firm financial measures to take account of the presence of off-balance sheet leasing arrangements.
By contrast, the second article in this edition covers a problem brought into particular relief by the global financial crisis, the inherent difficulty of estimating cost of capital in such an environment. Roger Grabowski’s article examines this problem in considerable detail and should be of enormous practical assistance to readers.
The third article in this volume, authored by Professor Lonergan, also deserves careful scrutiny, particularly amongst the practitioner community. In this detailed and forensically argued piece, the highlights a series of important technical issues relating to the application of pre and post tax discount rates to streams of cashflows in the context of valuation.
As the journal enters its fourth year, we are delighted to be able to report that the rate at which manuscripts published in the journal are accessed by readers continues to grow substantially. We are also enormously pleased to announce the expansion of our editorial board to include Professor Aswath Damodaran of the Stern School of Business, New York University, Professor Pablo Fernández of IESE Business School at the University of Navarra and Professor Stewart Jones of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney.
We express our sincere gratitude to all editorial board members for their continued work in support of JARAF and to each of the authors who have entrusted their thought leadership to the journal.
Keywords: financial reporting
JEL Classification: M40, M41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation