A ‘Distributional Apparatus’ for real estate: Fair value accounting and the assetization of UK property
本文从会计视角拆解投资性房地产如何被构建为“资产”，揭示公允价值会计规则、估值准则和利润分配指引共同构成一种“分配装置”，支撑资产化过程，并通过两个案例展示不同公司的估值与分配策略及其风险。
Research on housing financialization argues that property assets are important stores of value that collateralise global systems of financial accumulation. Yet remarkably little is known about how those assets are constructed, valued and generate returns. This paper draws on the assetization literature to unpack how investment properties are constructed as ‘assets’, applying an accounting lens to locate their growing importance within the move towards a fair value accounting regime. We argue that property investors benefit from a generous 'distributional apparatus' - that is, a collection of rules, norms, reporting technologies and market-orienting devices that act as both a resource and an incentive to engage in practices of valuation that maximise potential distributions. In the case of property assets, accounting rule IAS40 determines how housing assets should be recognised in an annual statement; the RICS Red Book acts as a market device which articulates with IAS40, providing rules and principles on the techniques of valuation and revaluation; and the ICAEW provides guidance on whether revaluations amount to a ‘realised profit’ which can be distributed to shareholders legally. Together these three features underpin the assetization process in investment property. We use two case studies to show that this apparatus acts as a flexible resource as companies build different valuation and distribution strategies around the RICS Red Book revaluation process, with different risk implications. Our findings contribute to financialization, assetization and accounting scholarship.