Based on extant literature, we review the positive theory of GAAP. The theory predicts that GAAP's principal focus is on control (performance measurement and stewardship) and that verifiability and conservatism are critical features of a GAAP shaped by market forces. We recognize the advantage...

In spite of its relative importance in the economy of many countries and its growing interrelationships with other sectors, agriculture has traditionally been excluded from accounting standards. Nevertheless, to support its Common Agricultural Policy, for years the European Commission has been...

Under current GAAP, initial bargain-purchase amounts, also known as negative goodwill (NGW) or the excess of the fair value of acquired net assets over the cost of an acquisition, are typically reduced or eliminated altogether by being allocated against the fair values of certain acquired assets...

This paper examines the extent to which management makes accounting choices to record intangible assets based on their insights into the underlying economics of their firm. It exploits a setting in which management have accounting discretion to record a wide range of intangible assets. The...

The traditional categorisation of expenditures evident in many firms' Charts of Accounts and the financial statements does not identify and measure expenditures on intangible investment separately from tangible investment and operating expenditures. This contrasts with the accounting for...

The current study examines the voluntary disclosures (provided in the U.S.) by U.S.-listed Asian companies. Our findings indicate that significantly fewer [greater] voluntary disclosures are provided by U.S.-listed Asian companies from countries which have a strict [less strict] mandatory...

The Financial Reporting Policy Committee of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association responded to the SEC's July 13, 2007 proposal to accept financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from...

The paper present the nonprofit entities accounting regulation in Italy and in Spain in an European perspective. After a presentation of activities of nonprofit entities and difference in their governance, the paper presents the accounting regulation for nonprofit entities in Italy...

This study addresses conservatism in financial reporting. Firms seek financing for an investment. Investors have access to an imperfect accounting signal that may also have a conservative tendency. If the firms have no private information, conservatism is desirable only for negative ex ante...

Lenders can transfer credit risk by purchasing credit default swaps (CDS), but holding swaps can diminish their incentives to monitor borrowers. Contracting theory predicts that lenders demand conservatism, in particular asymmetric timeliness of loss recognition, to effectively monitor...