SFAS No.2公開草案とその背景:軍需企業規制としての側面(鬼塚光政教授追悼号)

The purpose of this paper is to examine influences, other than those of economic inducements, on accounting standards. In conventional accounting researches, it is often the case that accounting standards are analyzed and explained mainly in terms of economic inducements based on the New Classical Economics or New Institutional Economics schools of thought. Transformation of accounting standards, however, can be thought of as being induced by factors other than economic inducements. Accordingly, influences of possible factors other than economic inducements were analyzed, taking, as an example, the second part of the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Exposure Draft, Accounting of Research and Development Costs(referred to as SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft), proposed in the U.S. To this end, this paper is divided into three parts as described in the following. Firstly, the role of ideology is taken up as an influencing factor other than economic inducements. A point one should be careful of here is that the ideology concept is used in a neutral context, an ideology being thought of as a means of understanding the world. For instance, North[1981], a New Institutional Economics scholar, introduced into this work his conception of ideology as an economizing device(by which individuals are provided with a worldview)so that the decision-making process is simplified." Bourguignon, Malleret and Nrreklit[2004], in their studies of the balanced score card,' introduced their conception of ideology as a means of understanding beliefs, knowledge and ideas useful to sustain a social order." When we apply a factor such as this to analysis of accounting standards, an ideology becomes a force for inducing institutional change(North[1990])as an influencing factor other than economic inducements. Secondly, the SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft is examined to clarify the influences of ideologies on accounting standards. When the SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft was studied from the existing points of view, causal relationships between expenditures and benefits, profit adjustments accompanying capitalization of research and development costs and so forth were singled out as reasons for the Draft's regulation. It is argued, however, that the SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft was proposed not only because of these reasons, but also because of its relationship with the problem consciousness(ideology)regarding what to think about the military-industrial complex, an issue that was becoming a societal problem at the time. And lastly, what influence the SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft has had on later days is examined. In particular, it is demonstrated that the SFAS No.2 Exposure Draft constitutes a restricting condition for the accounting of research and development costs. This conclusion is reached by disclosing a chain of dependent relationships in which a past event influences latter-day events as some kind of restricting factor. The conclusion then becomes evident, that the influence of ideologies on accounting standards cannot be overlooked.

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