Does Stewardship Still Have A Role?

Abstract

The paper analyzes the decision of the FASB and IASB not to treat the motivational and control aspects of stewardship as a separate and distinct reporting objective to that of facilitating investment decisions. It does so first by considering the demand for information to control agents, and second by assessing the capacity of decision-useful information to replicate stewardship effects. The paper finds an essence to accounting based on the legal protection of property rights, encompassing stewardship, which has remained constant since earliest times. The decision taken by the boards on stewardship also appears disconnected from changes in the capital markets, as well as the writings on reporting objectives that preceded it.