The Concept of Assets in Accounting Theory.
指出FASB的资产定义存在混淆，建议将资产重新定义为产权，以更好区分资产与费用，提升财务报表的可理解性、相关性和可比性。
Abstract The FASB's definition of assets needs to be revised. It confuses definition with measurement, stocks with flows, and it lacks empirical content. The definition cannot be used in practice to make clear distinctions between assets and expenses. A clearer distinction between assets and expenses would be possible if assets were defined as property-rights. All resources used by an enterprise have bundles of rights attached to them. These rights include the rights to use a resource, to change its form or substance, and to sell or rent it to others. By contractual arrangement, these rights are often distributed among various owners. The partial rights of each owner represent assets of that owner. If assets were defined as property rights, many of the costs that are deferred and recognized as separate assets under current GAAP would be eliminated. Some costs would be charged to expense when incurred, others would be reclassified as part of the costs of other assets or netted against liabilities. In classifying costs as assets or expenses, the focus would change from estimating future economic benefits (or net cash inflows) to associating costs with rights to use economic resources (or wealth). Eliminating deferred costs that are not rights to use wealth would improve the understandability, relevance and comparability of financial statements.