会计监管:依据探析与工具改进

会计监管属于规制经济学研究的大范畴,“公共利益理论”为会计监管提供了基本依据,通过对会计信息失灵原因的进一步分析,章指出“克服市场不完善导致的高质量会计信息需求不足”及“改善契约不完全造成的产权不明”是我国政府主导的会计监管更本质的原因;金融监管是经济监管领域较为成熟、甚为重要的部分,金融监管工具改革的经验体现了现代监管理念的变化,可以为会计监管工具设计和改革提供借鉴和支持。     

我国政府会计监管的完善趋向

一、政府会计监管概述按照古典经济学家亚当·斯密的观点,市场机制发挥作用是建立在三个假设基础上的:①市场应当是完全竞争的;②不存在外部性;③不存在公共产品。会计市场“交易”的是一种特殊的“商品”——会计信息,由于会计信息存在外部性并且具有准公共物品的特征,因此依靠会计信息市场本身的供求力量自由发挥作用不能有效地配置资源,即表现为会计信息市场失灵。然而,具有决策有用性的会计信息对于降低市场     

会计管理体制国家化与会计信息国际化

本文所讨论的会计管理体制,是指国家为确保会计信息质量而对会计人员和会计活动等进行组织和管理的有关体系和制度的总和.其目标是确保会计信息的质量,使会计信息质量能够满足相关方决策和管理的需要;其管理主体,既包括政府的财政部门,也包括政府的证券监管等其他相关部门和注册会计师协会等行业组织;其涉及领域,则涵盖了企业会计和公共会计领域的相关会计人员和会计活动等.其中,企业会计管理体制是指为确保企业会计信息质量,而对企业会计标准、会计人员及其执业行为进行组织和管理的体制;公共会计管理体制是指为确保会计信息鉴证质量,而对注册会计师行业的从业人员(注册会计师)、执业规范和会计服务市场进行组织和管理的体制.为确保会计信息质量,会计管理体制必须以会计信息监管为核心,包括会计信息的生产、披露和质量鉴证三个基本环节.     

对政府会计监管问题的几点看法

本文认为，会计信息质量取决于两个因素：一是会计信息提供者诚实守信；二是监管者严格执法。在现 实情况下，主要应当加强会计监管，尤其要加强政府部门的会计监管。针对目前政府会计监管中存在的问题， 本文提出：政府部门应当突出以财务会计报告为裁体的会计信息质量的监管；政府会计监管的范围，一是对社 会公众利益有重要影响的单位如公众公司以及金融、保险、证券机构的会计信息，二是国有单位的会计信息； 要转变政府职能，对市场主体的会计监管主要通过法律委托会计中介机构承担，政府部门的主要职责是对会计 中介机构的再监督；要明确政府会计监管的责任，如果监管部门实施监督检查后仍出现重大违法问题，应追究 监管者的失职责任。     

基于公共管理视角的政府会计改革探讨

<正>改革开放以来,我国的经济得到了迅速的发展,与此同时我国政府会计环境也发生了变化。政府和市场在社会经济运行中的分工逐步明确,政府职能重点转向公共产品的提供和宏观调控,政府会计信息使用者的范围不断扩大,对政府会计信息的内容和质量的要求不断提高。这些变化使得原来的政府会计     

会计信息供求的经济学研究

运用经济学的委托代理和公共物品理论对会计信息做深入分析,得出会计信息产品在特定的消费群中仍然是私人物品,会计信息资源的配置仍由竞争市场中的价格机制来引导。在此基础上分析会计信息供给的特殊性,得出供给自身存在的矛盾,以及我国目前的需求主体没有成为会计信息市场的有效主体。因此,政府在监管会计信息供给的同时,应利用市场力量培育真正意义上的会计信息市场需求主体,才能最终达到会计信息供需的平衡。     

供求矛盾、信息决策与政府会计改革——兼评我国公共领域的信息悖论

在西方国家的政治市场中,会计信息被公众视为政府不同公共政策经济后果的货币化体现与替代变量。公众通过会计信息识别公共政策的差异,做出支持或反对执政当局的决定。政府披露会计信息,说明公共资源的使用过程(预算信息)与使用结果(形成的资产、负债与发生的成本),以便获得公众的支持,谋取再次当选。政治市场中的信息供求双方经过博弈,导致会计信息披露将受"准则"的约束而实现均衡。然而,我国公共领域会计信息披露并未实现上述均衡状态,反而呈现出供给过剩与短缺并存的现象。本文期望通过分析我国政治体制下的信息供求双方与信息产品的特殊性,解读上述现象形成的公共领域信息披露悖论,并对我国政府会计改革的实施策略提出建议。     

基于本源视角的法务会计理论定位及职能界定

有关法务会计(Forensic Accounting)的理论研究及实践由来已久,但对其理论研究的结论大多基于经验认识。而基于社会广域视角下的法务会计理论定位应着眼于其本源产生的社会性特点。那么法务会计就应是一种在会计信息成为"公共产品"时的终极监督,这种监督具有对会计和审计再监督的性质,目标是使会计信息这一"公共产品"的客观性、公允性得到高度保证。其职能则表现为专业查证职能、终极监督职能以及服务职能。     

浅议政府会计监管

正一、政府会计监管的内涵政府会计监管是政府监管的一个分支,它既有政府监管的一般性,也有自己的特殊性。"政府会计监管"全称为"政府对上市公司会计信息的监管",政府会计监管是为了维护证券市场的有序运转,以保护市场各方参与者利益,特别是中小投资者利益为具体目标,由政府有关部门或其授权的     

论会计信息资源的配置机制——对会计信息公共物品论的反思

本文以经济学中的公共物品理论和信息经济学相关理论为基础 ,对当前的会计信息公共物品属性的观点进行了反思。通过界定“复合品”和“核心效用”两个概念 ,本文推导出会计信息产品在特定消费群内仍是私人物品 ,市场机制是配置会计信息资源的基本手段。但会计信息产品的质量具有难以检验性 ,关于会计信息产品质量的信息在企业与投资者之间分布不对称 ,为政府管制提供了理由。     

信息税及其对证券市场会计信息披露问题的治理

随着我国证券市场的发展,证券市场的法定信息披露、信息披露监管、会计准则建设等信息的公共服务越来越重要,而证券市场现行较为单一的证券交易税收制度作为公共服务开支的来源很难保证这些公共服务的有效提供。开征信息税所产生的收入、支出和调节等作用会产生一定的政策效应,如提高证券市场信息披露利益相关者对虚假信息披露问题进行治理参与的积极性,提高信息披露监管、信息披露规则建设和合法信息权利保障工作的财力支持,从而有利于证券市场信息披露质量、信息监管质量的提高,有利于证券市场有效性的提高和信息披露利益相关者合法权益的维护。     

Financial Reporting BY Local Government And The Disproportionate Requirements Of AAS 27

This paper discusses the economic characteristics, and related financial reporting issues, of goods and services provided by local government. These goods are grouped into three categories: public, private, and mixed public/private goods and services. Modified cash-based reports are found to be proper for government units that provide public and mixed goods, and accrual-based accounting is appropriate for units that provide private goods. When the provision of mixed goods and services by local government is not mandatory, the disclosure of the market value of the assets employed in producing these goods or services is also warranted.     

A Trusteeship Theory of Accounting for Natural Capital Assets

One of the problems encountered in implementing accrual accounting in the government sector is that of accounting for natural capital assets provided freely to government and which are used as public goods. Professional accounting standards require that these assets be valued and included in the government's statement of assets and liabilities. The problem is not encountered in business accrual accounting because business neither acquires assets freely nor provides services to the public on a non-commercial basis.
Various issues surrounding accrual accounting for natural capital assets used as public goods are examined in this article. The nature and characteristics of such assets, and the distinctions between private goods and public goods markets, are first explained to set the context for examination of the issues. Then the issues as to whether natural capital assets should be treated as assets for accounting purposes and included in the government's statement of financial position are analysed according to FASB standards; it is concluded that they are not assets. Rather, it is proposed that these assets used for the provision of non-commercial services to the public should be treated in a separate category as public goods assets which are held in trust by the government on behalf of the nation, for the benefit of current and future generations and for the preservation of the natural ecology of the nation. Commercial valuations are not relevant for these assets and they need not be valued in financial terms for their good management.     

Government Accounting: An Assessment of Theory, Purposes and Standards

Government accounting and financial reporting aims to protect and manage public money and discharge accountability. These purposes, and the nature of public goods and tax financing, give rise to differences with commercial accounting. This is not yet reflected either in government accounting standards in English–speaking developed nations or in international public sector accounting standards. All of these are heavily influenced by private sector practices, which favour the accrual basis and consolidated reporting. This article argues for a gradual symmetric approach to accruals and a combination of government–wide and fund reporting. The author also proposes some broad accounting principles to promote political and economic accountability.     

Transforming frameworks of accountability: The case of water privatization

The U.K. Government's belief in the innate inefficiency of traditional public sector provision of goods and services has inspired a number of initiatives which have resulted in management of public sector enterprises being confronted by an increasingly commercial environment, tighter financial controls, increased competition, and in some cases transfer to the private sector through privatization. This paper is concerned with investigating the ways in which accounting and accounting information has contributed to and shaped processes of organizational change in one area of the public sector, the ten Regional Water Authorities of England and Wales. In the early 1980s, the Water Authorities were subject to pressures from new Government financial controls and performance aims to become more efficient. These pressures intensified when the Government announced its intention to privatize them in 1986, and continued up to 1989 when privatization took effect. Since privatization the Water Authorities have been subject to “yardstick” competition under a new regulatory framework, and comparative judgements by the financial markets. In considering these changes, the paper examines the constitutive role of accounting in articulating changing organizational priorities, and in promoting first a vocabulary of costs and subsequently a vocabulary of profits as languages of organizational motive.     

The Effect of the Introduction of GST on Accountants' Job Satisfaction and Burnout

The introduction of the goods and services tax in Australia saw a fundamental shift in the working conditions and type of work performed by public accounting practitioners. This paper explores the impact of the introduction of GST on working conditions, job satisfaction and burnout, using data from a survey of 71 public accountants. The study finds that the introduction of the GST has caused accountants' burnout levels to increase while job satisfaction remains unchanged. An unexpected finding is that accountants' propensity to leave the profession has dramatically increased as a result of the introduction of the GST     

The association between characteristics of audit committee accounting experts,audit committee chairs,and financial reporting timeliness

We investigate the association between audit committee (AC) members' financial expertise and financial reporting timeliness, and extend the discussion by investigating how the source of accounting expertise (e.g., public accounting or CFO) differentially influences financial reporting timeliness. We predict and find that AC accounting financial expertise is associated with timelier accounting information. Further, we find that accounting expertise gained from public accounting experience is associated with timelier financial reporting; however, accounting expertise gained from CFO experience is not. We also find that AC chairs (ACCs) with accounting expertise from public accounting experience are significantly associated with timelier financial reporting while ACCs with CFO-sourced accounting expertise are not. Our results are important for two reasons. First, our results suggest that AC accounting financial expertise contributes to AC effectiveness by improving the timeliness of financial information. Second, our findings highlight how personal characteristics of accounting financial experts influence contributions toward AC effectiveness.     

Functional fixation: Experimental evidence on the presentation of financial information through different digital formats

This study examines whether, in the presentation of financial information, digital formats address the concern over users’ functional fixation. The accounting literature indicates that the presentation of financial information either within the financial statements or in the notes to the financial statements often creates functional fixation where users of financial statements fail to adjust for differences in accounting policy. This leads users to judge what would otherwise be identical financial situations as being different due to the different accounting policies and methods adopted. It has been suggested that the use of digital formats in presenting financial reports may overcome functional fixation. Using an experimental design involving accountants in public practice, the results indicate that the use of digital formats to present financial reports does not fully overcome the issue of functional fixation in the processing of financial information. Although the participants were able to identify and extract relevant information, irrespective of whether or not the information was presented within the financial statements or in the notes to the accounts, the evidence indicates that functional fixation remained when the participants made final decisions based on available information. This suggests that functional fixation may not be caused by access to or extraction of information but by the level of perceived significance based on where the information is reported in the financial statements. In general, the results indicate that current technology may not be able to fully reduce functional fixation in the evaluation of financial information prepared in accordance with different accounting policies and methods.     

Polish Public Sector Accounting in Transition: Evidence From the Mid 1990s

The Polish public sector is still under transition that began at the turn of 1989/1990. In the mid-1990s a new significant development in public sector accounting took place. A substantial differentiation of the accounting system was introduced. New elements and relationships appeared, along with general domination of the Accounting Act, tax regulations and the Budgetary Law. The system of basic regulation of accounting and reporting has also changed. There were also some changes in the auditing system. The enactment in 1994 of the Accounting Act has brought to light the political character and political importance of financial information in Poland. This paper presents the current mode of public sector accounting regulation and its relationship with the overall system of Polish accounting regulations. Much attention has been devoted to specific principles of public sector accounting and financial reporting in the public sector, and to government accounting. Some political contaminations and consequences of the current accounting system have been pointed out.