Historical Developments in the Accountancy Profession, Financial Reporting, and Accounting Theory

C. Richard Baker is Professor of Accounting at the Willumstad School of Business, Adelphi University, New York. His main research interests are focused on the public accounting profession, in particular: the history of the profession, comparative systems of regulation, ethical issues, independence, and legal liability.Martin E. Persson is an Assistant Professor of Accountancy at Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the development of accounting thought, with a particular interest in people, ideas, and institutions from the 1900s, as well as classical accounting theory and measurement issues.

• Section 1: Financial Reporting and the Accountancy ProfessionChapter 1. Contrasting Institutional Logics: Historical Development of the Public Accountancy Professions in the United Kingdom and France Chapter 2. A Brief History of the United States Standard Auditor’s Report Chapter 3. The History of Accounting Standards-Setting in the United States Prior to the Creation of the Committee on Accounting Procedure Chapter 4. The Influence of Accounting Theory on the FASB Conceptual Framework Chapter 5. The Role of Financial Reporting in Corporate Governance Section 2: Accounting Measurements and TheoryChapter 6. A Genealogy of Positivist and Critical Accounting Research Chapter 7. Principles versus Rules-Based Accounting Standards Chapter 8. The Concept of Prudence in Accounting Chapter 9. The Challenge of Measuring Intangibles: Insights from Brand Valuation Chapter 10. The Concept of Measurement in Financial Reporting