The Tragedy of the Accounting Commons: Governing the Financial Accounting Standards Setting Process

This book develops and significantly elaborates on the concept of the tragedy of the accounting commons, as well as articulating innovative solutions to the tragedy of the financial accounting commons. It suggests the decentralization of the accounting standards setting process to the 50 US state level commons, and the empowerment of the commoners in the process of accounting standards setting. It proposes two complementary conceptual models for financial accounting standards setting, one at the federal level (Model 1), and the other at the state level (Model 2). The book proposes 50 elected accounting standards setting bodies to reflect the preferences of the 50 commons in setting the accounting standards as compared to the current centralized, top-down approach of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). It also proposes a Special Accounting Adjudication Court(s) to speedily resolve the conflicts between the accounting regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and its registrants. In short, it envisions a major point of departure from the way that accounting standards have been set in the US to date. The book also addresses the institutional reconfiguration of the public-private sector balance as mandated by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. While the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) remain the exclusive domain of FASB, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) pronounced by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have gained considerable legitimacy abroad. Although there are convergence initiatives by the two private sector accounting standards setting organizations (FASB and IASB), it is uncertain as to whether there will be a total convergence between the two sets of standards (GAAP and IFRS). This book addresses these issues from the point of view of the commoners.