理论视角下利于决策的公允价值会计研究外文翻译.docx

理论视角下利于决策的公允价值会计研究外文翻译.docx

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理论视角下利于决策的公允价值会计研究外文翻译

外文文献翻译

原文：

TheDecisionUsefulnessofFairValueAccounting–ATheoreticalPerspective

ABSTRACTR:

egulatorssuchastheSECandstandardsettingbodiessuchastheFASBandtheIASBarguethecasefortheconceptualdesirabilityoffairvaluemeasurement,notablyontherelevancedimension.Recentstandardsonfinancialinstrumentsandcertainnon-financialitemsadoptthenewmeasurementparadigm.Thispapertakesissuewiththenotionofdecisionusefulnessofafair-value-basedreportingsystemfromatheoreticalperspective.Emphasisisputontheevaluationofthetheoreticalsoundnessoftheargumentsputforwardbyregulatorsandstandardsettingbodies.Theanalysisisconductedaseconomic（apriori）analysis.Twoapproachestodecisionusefulnessareadopted,themeasurementorvaluationperspectiveandtheinformationperspective.Findingsindicatethatthedecisionrelevanceoffairvaluemeasurementcanbejustifiedfrombothperspectives,yettheconceptualcaseisnotstrong.Theinformationaggregationnotionthatunderliesstandardsetters’endorsementoffairvaluemeasurementturnsouttobetheoreticallyrestrictedinitsvalidityandapplicability.Also,comparativeanalysisoffairvalueaccountingvs.historicalcostaccountingyieldsmixedresults.Oneimmediateimplicationoftheresearch–aconditionforthefurtherimplementationoffairvalueaccounting–istheneedtoclarifystandardsetters’notionofaccountingincome,itspresumedcontributiontodecisionrelevanceanditsdisaggregation

1.FairValue:

DefinitionandEstimation

Despitedifferentwording,thedefinitionsandmeaningsoftheterm‘fairvalue’arebasicallyequivalentinFASBandIASBpronouncements.ThegeneralFASBdefinitioninSFACNo.7hasrecentlybeenoverhauledbythenewStandardSFAS157,FairValueMeasurements,whichstatesinpara.5:

‘Fairvalueisthepricethatwouldbereceivedtosellanassetorpaidtotransferaliabilityinanorderlytransactionbetweenmarketparticipantsatthemeasurementdate.’TheIASBframeworkatpresenthasnodefinitionoffairvalue,yetauniformdefinitioncanbefoundonthestandardslevel:

‘Fairvalueistheamountforwhichanassetcouldbeexchanged,oraliabilitysettled,betweenknowledgeable,willingpartiesinanarm’slengthtransaction.’1Inacurrentconvergenceproject,theIASBdevelopsanInternationalFinancialReportingStandard（IFRS）onfairvaluemeasurements,whichisbasedonSFAS157.

Takingintoaccounttherelevantinterpretations,theFASB/IASBconceptoffairvalueisthatofaspecifichypotheticalmarketpriceunderidealizedconditions.Moreprecisely,fairvalueistheexitmarketpricethatwouldresultunderclose-to-idealmarketconditions,inatransactionbetweenknowledgeable,independentandeconomicallyrationalparties,whichinteractonthebasisofanidenticalinformationset（completeinformation）.Thesharpdistinctionoffairvalueandvalueinuseclarifiesthatfairvaluemeasurementisnottoincludeentity-specificcompetitiveadvantages,thatis,noprivateskillsandnoprivateinformation（SFAS157,para.C32;SFACNo.7,para.24a;JWG,2000,para.4.5;IASB,2006,paras.42–45）.

Theestimationoffairvaluefollows,inprinciple,athree-tierhierarchy.Thegoverningprincipleisprimacyofmarket-basedmeasures–therefutablenotionthatmarketpricesormarketdataaremoreinformativeandreliablethaninternalestimates.Thus,marketpricesrepresentthebestestimateoffairvalue,ifmarketconditionssatisfythefairvaluedefinition.Therelevant‘quality’ofmarketpricesisassessedonthebasisoftheactivemarketcriterion,thatis,regulartradingoftheitemonasufficientlyliquidmarketisrequiredforthemarketpricetoqualifyasanestimateoffairvalue.3Ifmarketpricesdonotexhibitsufficientqualityorarenotavailable,thesecondleveloftheestimationhierarchyrequirestoconsider（modified）marketpricesofcomparableitems,wherecomparabilitynaturallyreferstothecashflowprofile.Onlywhensuchpricescannotbeusedeither,marking-to-marketfailsandfairvalueismandatedtobeestimatedusinginternalestimatesandcalculations.Thismarking-to-model,326J.-M.Hitztheuseofaccepted,theoreticallysoundpricingmethods,representsatechniqueoflastresort.Ampleguidanceexistsonvaluationmodelsforfinancialinstruments,andacceptedmethodscanbefoundinthemarketplace.Fornon-financialitems,fairvalueestimationrestsonapresentvalueapproach.SFACNo.7,SFAS157and,withmodifications,IAS36,developtheprinciplesandmethodsforsuchmeasurements.Notably,theyadoptan‘economic’viewonmeasurementclearlygroundedinmodernneo-classicalfinancetheory,anddistinguishtraditionalfromexpectedcashflowandresidualearningsapproaches.

Tosummarize,fairvaluerepresentsaspecificcurrentvalue,thatis,exitvalueunderidealizedconditions.Estimationfollowsathree-tierprocess,withastrictpreferenceformarket-basedmeasures.

2.EvolutionandImplementationoftheFairValueParadigm

ThemovetowardsfairvaluemeasurementresultsfromtheadoptionofthefairvalueparadigmbystandardsettingbodiessuchasFASBandIASB.Attherootsofthedevelopmentliestheperceivedinsufficiencyofthethenpredominantreportingmodel,theso-calledrevenue–expenseapproach,whichisusuallytracedtothePatonandLittleton（1940）monograph.8DeficienciesofthisapproachhadbeenidentifiedbytheFASBalreadyatthebeginningofthe1980sandresultedinageneraloverhauloftheaccountingmodel.Themovetowardsfairvalueaccountingthereforefitsintoamoregeneraldevelopment,theadoptionoftheso-calledasset-liabilityorbalancesheetapproach.Themainpropertyhereisanincomedefinitionthatanchorsonchangesinassetsandliabilitiesratherthanonthe328J.-M.Hitzvaguenotionof‘nondistortion’（Bevis,1965,p.104）,whichhadincreasinglybeenperceivedasapretextfordiscretionarydefinitionsofbalancesheetpositions.9Additionally,researchersandregulatorsfeltuncomfortablewithabalancesheetthathadnoinformativepurposeofitsown.10TheFASBthereforeadoptedthenewasset-liabilityapproachwithSFACNo.3in1980（SFACNo.6in1985）,whichimplementseconomics-baseddefinitionsofassetsandliabilitiesthatrefertofutureeconomicbenefitsandoutflowsofthosebenefits,respectively,andlinksincomestrictlytochangesinnetassets.

Overtheyears,therehasbeenconsiderabledebateonwhethertheasset-liabilityapproachrequiresmeasurementbasedoncurrentvaluesratherthanhistoricalcost,whichresultedincontroversiesnotablyattheFASB（Miller,1990,p.28）.Inanyevent,theapproachstressestheroleofthebalancesheetasasourceofdecisionusefulinformationandthereforeprovidesaconceptualunderpinningfortheinitiationofthefairvalueparadigm,whichwasstimulatedbythespecificproblemsinvolvedinaccountingforfinancialinstruments.

TheimmediateregulatoryreactioninthewakeoftheS&LcrisisrepresentsthestartingpointfortheimplementationoffairvaluemeasurementandtheevolutionofthefairvalueparadigmbothinFASBandIASBstandards.Startingoutasaspecialregulationforcertainsecurities,fairvaluemeasurementwassoonidentifiedasthemostrelevantattributeforfinancialinstruments.FullfairvalueaccountingforfinancialinstrumentswasadvocatedbytheIASCinits1997discussionpaper,whichrepresentedabasisfortheJointWorkingGroupDraftStandardin2000.Parallelingthisprocesswasthetentativeintroductionoffairvaluefornon-financialitems,whereSFACNo.7onthepresentvaluemeasurementoffairvalueconstitutedalandmarkconceptualstep.Notably,SFACNo.7appearstogeneralizethefairvalueparadigmforanymarketvaluesatisfyingthefairvaluedefinition–beitmarket-ordermodel-based–andarrivesatafundamentalconclusion

Formeasurementsatinitialrecognitionorfresh-startmeasurements,fairvalueprovidesthemostcompleteandrepresentationallyfaithfulTheDecisionUsefulnessofFairValueAccounting329measurementoftheeconomiccharacteristicsofanassetoraliability.（SFACNo.7,para.36）WiththeadoptionofSFACNo.7,theFASBlendsconstitutionalcharactertothefairvaluemeasurementobjective:

giventhenormativefunctionoftheconceptualframework,fairvaluemeasurementisanalternativetobeconsideredinanyfuturestandardsettinginitiative.Thelateststepintheevolutionofthefairvalueparadigmhasbeentakenonlyrecently.SFAS157,FairValueMeasurements,givesampleguidanceonthedefinitionandestimationoffairvalue,thusprovidinganauthoritative（Level-A-GAAP）principles-basedconceptwhichappliestoanystandardemployingthefairvaluemeasurementobjective.Initscurrentprojectonfairvaluemeasurements,theIASBadoptstheSFAS157fairvaluehierarchy.

3.FairValueBalanceSheet

Themovefromhistoricalcostaccountingtowardsfairvalueaccountingreflectsanincreasinglyeconomics-basedapproachtoaccountingmeasurement,whereeconomicvaluesarereportedonthebalancesheet.Thisemphasisonthevaluationfunctionofthebalancesheet,coupledwiththeparadigmaticfoundationsthatrestonastocksperspective,illustratesthegrowingimportanceofthebalancesheetasastand-aloneinstrumentofinvestorinformation（RazaeeandLee,1995,p.217;Barker,2004,p.166）.Intheterminologyofaccountingtheory,theasset-liabilityapproachisemphasizedvis-a`-visthetraditionalrevenue–expenseapproach.

Sincetheinformationperspectivedoesnotallowforevaluationofdifferentreportingformats,itssoleimplicationhereisthat,inaccordancewiththeresultsoftheprevioussections,thehigh