ABSTRACT
The fi rst three chapters have set out a reasoned argument for the principle that the fi rm’s overriding objective should be to achieve distributive justice among its stakeholders. The remainder of the book considers the contribution that fi nancial reporting can and should make towards the achievement of this objective. Hence there is a change of emphasis from broad issues of philosophy and the responsibility of the fi rm to the narrower issue of fi nancial reporting. This chapter presents an analysis of the role that fi nancial reporting should play in the process by which the fi rm achieves distributive justice. This book’s thesis is that the fi rm should behave in a way that achieves distributive justice; that the costs and benefi ts of its activities are distributed in a just and fair manner among its stakeholders. As a fi rst step in assessing what contribution fi nancial reporting can make towards this objective, it is necessary to analyse the factors that govern the behaviour of fi rms.
