会计研究的作用(中英文).docVIP

CHAPTER 14 The Role of Accounting Research 会计研究的作用 Throughout this book, we use science’s concept of theory (positive theory). Under that concept, the objective of accounting theory is to explain and predict accounting practice (broadly defined).However, as we note in Chapter 1,the accounting literature includes other views of theory.In many of those other views, the objective of theory appears to be the production of prescriptions for government accounting policy (i.e., for accounting standards and regulation of disclosure). Proponents of those views assume an objective function and, based on assumptions regarding how the world works (an implicit positive theory), deduce accounting prescriptions. The emphasis is on the prescription rather than on the positive theory underlying it. There is typically no attempt to test the underlying theory, and the theory is often countrary to accepted empirical hypotheses (e.g., the efficient markets hypothesis). 科学上的理论概念（实证理论）贯穿于本书。根据这一概念，会计理论的目标在于解释和预测广义上的会计事务。然而，正如第1章所介绍的，会计理论还包括了关于理论的其他观点。在许多观点中，会计理论的目标似乎是为政府制定会计政策服务（即为会计准则或信息解释管制服务）。这些观点的倡导者首先假设一个目标函数，有关现实世界如何运行的假设（一种含蓄的实证性理论），推断出具体的会计规定。这种做法强调的是规范，而不是这种规范所赖以存在的实证理论。在一般情况下，他们并未试图验证其理论基础，而该基础经常与为人们所认可的经验性假设（如有效市场假说）相矛盾。 On the surface, this prescriptive literature is contradictory. If its proponents are serious about their prescriptions, they would be concerned about the predictive ability of their implicit positive theory.Unless the theory is predictive, the prescriptions are unlikely to achieve their objective. In Chapter 1 we explain the demand for positive theories. Individuals demand positive theories to predict the conseqences of their actions. That includes individuals in standard-setting bodies (such as the FASB and SEC).Those individuals want to predict the consequences of adopting particular standards or accounting policy prescriptions.So the apparent users of the prescriptive literature want a theory that explains and predicts. Why then do we observe a prescriptive