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Sorting and comparing: Standard-setting and “ethical” categories

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  • Young, Joni J.
  • Williams, Paul F.

Abstract

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) describes its public interest function as “…developing standards that result in accounting for similar transactions and circumstances in a like manner and different transactions and circumstances…in a different manner (Facts about FASB).” This statement implies that rule-makers possess an expertise that makes analogizing transactions or circumstances to other transactions or circumstances unproblematic. In this paper we utilize two instances of standard-setting, SFAS 123R and SFAS 143, to demonstrate from FASB's analogic reasoning in these cases that similarity and dissimilarity are not so easily ascertained. A judgment about similarity invariably involves ignoring some perspectives of similarity that would lead to substantially different conclusions about the appropriate accounting. We also illustrate via the two examples the inherent value judgments that underlie the conclusions reached by FASB and how these value judgments raise questions about the ethics of the current standard-setting process.

Suggested Citation

  • Young, Joni J. & Williams, Paul F., 2010. "Sorting and comparing: Standard-setting and “ethical” categories," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 509-521.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:21:y:2010:i:6:p:509-521
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2010.02.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Young, Joni J., 1994. "Outlining regulatory space: Agenda issues and the FASB," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 83-109, January.
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    4. Shyam Sunder, 2005. "Social Norms versus Standards of Accounting," Yale School of Management Working Papers amz2525, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Sep 2005.
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    2. Tiago Cardao-Pito & João Silva Ferreira, 2018. "‘Fair Value’ accounting as the normative Fisherian phase of accounting," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 149-179, September.
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    4. Hayoun, Shaul, 2019. "How fair value is both market-based and entity-specific: The irreducibility of value constellations to market prices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 68-82.
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    6. Tiago Cardao-Pito & João Silva Ferreira, 2018. "Demystifying fair value accounting: rejoinder to Baker and Markarian," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 199-202, September.
    7. Okamoto, Noriaki, 2014. "Fair value accounting from a distributed cognition perspective," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 170-183.
    8. Barker, Richard & Schulte, Sebastian, 2017. "Representing the market perspective: Fair value measurement for non-financial assets," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 55-67.

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