Empirical Research on Capitalizing Intangible Assets Is Logically Incoherent
批评了支持无形资产资本化会计政策的实证研究，指出其结论与理性决策理论不一致，且实证分析未能提供理性投资者评估无形资产收益所需的信息。
SYNOPSIS This essay critiques empirical research that purports to support the accounting policy of capitalization of intangible assets. The critique is two-fold. First, the conclusions from the research are inconsistent with rational decision theory about how investors make inferences from accounting information. Second, the way the empirical analysis is constructed to reach those conclusions fails to introduce the information from which a rational investor assesses the payoff to intangible assets. JEL Classifications: M21; M40; M41.