A Benefits Approach to Certain Accounting Policy Choices.
探讨了在不了解报表使用者信息偏好的情况下，如何通过比较两种报告方案的潜在总用户收益来判断哪种更优，并指出许多会计政策选择不适用此分析，建议政策制定机构关注成本。
Abstract ABSTRACT: This paper is concerned with the existence of some accounting choices that can be examined to determine which of two reporting alternatives is preferable in terms of gross potential user benefits, without knowing statement users' preferences for information. It is also noted that many policy choices in accounting are not subject to this analysis. At a minimum, the identification of which of these two categories fits a particular accounting policy decision should indicate that the attention of policy-making bodies could be most usefully directed to the costs of policy choices in certain cases. Possible explanations for the continuing focus on benefits rather than costs of alternatives are examined.