ABSTRACT

Financial accounting theory has numerous practical applications and policy implications, for instance, international accounting standard setters are increasingly relying on theoretical accounting concepts in the creation of new standards; and corporate regulators are increasingly turning to various conceptual frameworks of accounting to guide regulation and the interpretation of accounting practices.

The global financial crisis has also led to a new found appreciation of the social, economic and political importance of accounting concepts generally and corporate financial reporting in particular. For instance, the fundamentals of capital market theory (i.e. market efficiency) and measurement theory (i.e. fair value) have received widespread public and regulatory attention.

This comprehensive, authoritative volume provides a prestige reference work which offers students, academics, regulators and practitioners a valuable resource containing the current scholarship and practice in the established field of financial accounting theory.

chapter 7|19 pages

Standard setting, politics and change management

A personal perspective

chapter 10|19 pages

Fair value and IFRS

chapter 11|18 pages

Valuation models

An issue of accounting theory

chapter 12|87 pages

Earnings management

Implications and controversies

chapter 13|25 pages

Agency theory

Usefulness and implications for financial accounting

chapter 14|30 pages

Disclosure and the cost of capital

A survey of the theoretical literature

chapter 18|20 pages

Social theorisation of accounting

Challenges to positive research

chapter 19|20 pages

True and fair

A business ethos ‘par excellence'

chapter 21|22 pages

Corporate sustainability reporting

Theory and practice