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ESTABLISHING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATED INDUSTRIES’ACCOUNTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Author(s) -
Vass Peter
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
financial accountability and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.661
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1468-0408
pISSN - 0267-4424
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0408.1992.tb00445.x
Subject(s) - accountability , accounting , conceptual framework , monopoly , business , public sector , process (computing) , economics , industrial organization , political science , market economy , law , philosophy , economy , epistemology , computer science , operating system
The regulation of monopoly utilities represents one of the‘new frontiers’between the state and the private sector. Conceptual frameworks developed for profit‐making companies are relevant to several of the central issues facing regulatory accounting. However, the role of regulation as a surrogate for the market place brings with it additional complexities for the clear attribution of accountability between the regulated company and the regulator with regard to the investor and the public. This means that key issues on procedures, confidentiality and public access to financial information on the regulated companies, and on the basis of regulatory decisions, must also be addressed within a conceptual framework for regulated industries. Without a general clarification of these issues, the process of regulation will increasingly be judged to be simply discretionary, rather than as publicly accountable.