Dear Editor:
I am writing because I see several things that concern me about our business valuation (BV) profession. I offer some thought-provoking remarks that hopefully induce a reaction from the journal’s readership. As a caveat, what follows is strictly from my perspective as a BV practitioner who earned his PhD and, for a time, became a finance professor and government regulatory economist, but who kept his ASA-BV designation and has volunteered for the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) in various roles.
BV distinguishes itself as a profession—it has standards of practice and a code of ethics. It requires demonstrating proficiency of an advanced body of knowledge both to obtain and to maintain professional credentials. By definition (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), a profession is “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.” This definition helps to point out my concerns: what knowledge makes our profession, how does that...
