IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/09513570610689659.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Epistemological objectivity in financial reporting

Author

Listed:
  • C. Richard Baker

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the complexity surrounding the meaning of the terms “economic reality” and “neutral representation” as these terms are applied to the resolution of financial accounting issues. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines the concept of epistemological objectivity in financial reporting through an analysis of issues raised by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) with respect to accounting for internet activities and the concomitant manner in which the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) approached these issues. Findings - An analysis of communications between the SEC and the FASB pertaining to accounting for internet activities reveals that, while these bodies seek to resolve issues in a manner that is neutral and objective, they often employ subjective reasoning in pursuing their regulatory purpose, thus raising questions about the extent of their concern with neutral representations of economic reality. Originality/value - The paper adds to the criticisms of efforts which claim to be neutral representations of economic reality.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Richard Baker, 2006. "Epistemological objectivity in financial reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 19(5), pages 663-680, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:09513570610689659
    DOI: 10.1108/09513570610689659
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570610689659/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570610689659/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/09513570610689659?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:09513570610689659. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.