Economic Analysis On Accounting Information Distortion

Accounting information distortion (AID) was studied from economic view in this dissertation which was based on contract theory, property rights theory, institution theory and principal-agent theory. The content mainly included:The study on AID should be on the basis of recognizing the nature and characteristics of accounting information (AI) theoretically. In the dissertation, the author proceeded from the study on the economic features of AI, applied contract theory and property rights theory, analyzed the nature of AID. He pointed out that AI is a kind of label products. Its use value is to reflect the value of core product, enterprise, and its value-realization relies on the value-realization of enterprise. This nature makes AI emerge great economic consequences. Therefore, its truth and quality become the key factors to influence the stakeholders' benefit distribution results. AI possesses externality. The author defined the concept of accounting information externality, and considered that the way of resolving externality issues is clarifying property rights, and the way of resolving internality issues is protecting property rights. The externality issues are more serious than the internality issues in China today, and the main reason of AI rule-violating distortion (RVD) is having no effective protection to AI property rights. From the view of human rights, to clarify the property rights of AI is not to arrange the ownership to one side or share it by all the stakeholders, but to confirm the rights and responsibilities of all the stakeholders in the process of producing, supplying and using AI. So RVD can be looked as a kind of tort.The causes of rule distortion (RD) and RVD were studied by means of applying institution theory, principal-agent theory and cost-benefit analysis method, and a general logic framework of RVD was established. About the emergence of RVD, principal-agent relationship is the objective basis, the incompatibility of utility function and asymmetric information between principle and agent are the essential conditions, and the bigger net income of violating the rules than that of obeying the rules is the direct motivation.By statistics to quality inspection announcements of accounting information of MFPRC from 1997 to 2002 and penalty resolutions of CSRS to listed corporations from 1994 to 2003, the author analyzed the situation, traits and causes of AID in China today.Appling incentive theory and supervision theory of information economics, property rights theory of institutional economics and principal-agent theory, the author studied the prevention of AID from macro, middle, and micro view, and put the existed preventive measures into the framework to analyze their advantages and disadvantages.By using the UTC market theory of western law and economics, a market-based preventive proposal for AID was devised. According to the proposal, the stockholders' legal rights of acquiring true AI will be separated from the property rights. These legal rights, which were protected only by government before, can be transacted freely in the market now. Theproposal can give the impetus to those who possess higher capacities of supervision and claim, increase the discoverable probability and penal strength of AI torts, save the transaction cost, and released the pressure of government in protection to property rights of AI.