2019年经济学人 一篮子无形资产(2)

 

The problem is what it leaves out. These days, the value of a firm lies as much in its reputation, its processes,

问题是它遗漏了什么。如今，一家公司的价值取决于其公司名誉、进程、

the know-how¹ of staff and relationships with customers and suppliers as in tangible² assets.

员工的专业技能以及客户和供应商之间的关系以及其有形资产。

Putting an accounting³ value on these intangibles is notoriously tricky⁴. By their nature, they have unclear boundaries.

给这些无形资产定一个帐面价值很难。就其本质而言，它们的界限并不明确。

Not every dollar of R&D or advertising⁵ spending can be ascribed to a well-defined asset, such as a brand or patent.

不是每一分花在调研或广告上的钱都可以被归为有明确定义的资产，如一个品牌或专利。

That is in large part why, with a few exceptions, such spending is treated as a running cost, like rent or electricity.

这就是为什么（也有少数例外）这类开支被当做一种经营成本，如房租或电费。

Increasingly price is detached from book value. The median price-to-book of S&P 500 stocks is 3.0.

价格逐渐被脱离账面价值。S&P 500的中间股价与账面价值是3.0。

But plenty of well-known companies, whose competitive edge rests on brands or patents, have much higher ratios or even negative book values.

但是很多竞争优势依赖于品牌或专利的知名公司比率更高，甚至账面价值是负值。

McDonald's has considerable brand value, which is not on its balance-sheet. It also has property assets that have been fully⁶ depreciated⁷.

麦当劳品牌价值巨大，但这种价值没有体现在其资产负债表中。它也有已被完全折旧的不动产。

The effect of mergers⁹ is to make things murkier¹⁰.

企业合并的效果是让事情变得更加模糊。

If, say, one firm pays $100m for another that has $30m of tangible assets, the residual¹¹ $70m is counted as an intangible asset—

如果假设一家公司出资一亿美元收购另一家拥有3千万美元有形资产的公司，剩余的7千万将算作是无形资产—

either as brand value, if that can be gauged¹³, or as "goodwill¹⁴". That distorts comparisons.

要么是品牌价值（如果这个可以被测量的话），要么是“商誉”。这就扭曲了比较。

A firm that has acquired brands by merger⁸ will have those reflected in its book value, says Simon Harris, of GMO, a fund-management firm;

对于通过合并收购品牌的公司而言，这些将会反应在其账面价值上，基金管理公司GMO的西蒙·哈里斯说到；

a firm that has developed its own brands will not. Share buy-backs make things murkier still. For any firm with a price-to-book greater than one,

而发展自己品牌的公司则不会。股票回购还是会让事情更加模糊。对于任何一家股价与账面价值大于一的公司而言，

a buy-back will diminish book by proportionately more than it lowers the value of outstanding stock. So price-to-book rises further.

回购会减少账面价值，其差值多于其降低的已发行股份的价值。所以股价与账面价值会进一步增加。

Some have called for accounting rules to change. But the more leeway a company has to turn day-to-day costs into capital assets,

一些人呼吁改变会计规则。但是一家公司需要将日常成本转化为固定资产的回旋余地越多，

the more scope there is to fiddle¹⁵ with reported earnings¹⁶. Better to spur the disclosure of spending that adds to intangible value.

在收入报告中弄虚作假的范围就越大。最好是鼓励披露添加至无形资产中的开支。

Analysts¹⁷ can then make their own judgments¹⁸. Mr Harris finds that adjusting book value to reflect past R&D

那么分析师就可以做出自己的判断。哈里斯发现调整账面价值以反映过去调研

and advertising spending makes for more useful comparisons across stocks.

和广告开支有助于对股票进行更有效的比较。

It is not a perfect gauge¹². But no single measure—whether price-to-book or billions of customers served— can ever tell the whole story.

这并非是一种完美的测量方法。但是没有一种单一方法—不论是账面价值还是服务了数十亿客户—能够讲述整个故事。

1 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

2 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

3 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

4 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 depreciated   

v.贬值，跌价，减价( depreciate的过去式和过去分词 )；贬低，蔑视，轻视

参考例句：

• Fixed assets are fully depreciated. 折旧足额。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Shares in the company have depreciated. 该公司的股票已经贬值。 来自辞典例句

8 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

9 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 murkier   

adj.阴暗的( murky的比较级 )；昏暗的；（指水）脏的；混浊的

参考例句：

• If not, the outcome may be a lot murkier. 而如不然，结果可能就会更加含糊不清。 来自互联网
• This leads us into the murkier areas of human behaviour. 这让我们看到了人类行为较阴暗的领域。 来自互联网

11 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

12 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

13 gauged   

adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• He picked up the calipers and gauged carefully. 他拿起卡钳仔细测量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Distance is gauged by journey time rather than miles. 距离以行程时间而非英里数来计算。 来自辞典例句

14 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

15 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

16 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

17 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

18 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。