Accounting: A General Commentary on an Empirical Science

Many researchers have questioned the view of accounting as a science. Some maintain that it is a service activity rather than a science, yet others entertain the view that it is an art or merely a technology. While it is true that accounting provides a service and is a technology (a methodology for recording and reporting), that fact does not prevent accounting from being a science. Based upon the structure and knowledge base of the discipline, this paper presents the case for accounting as an empirical science

La crise de l'économie keynésienne

[eng] The paper analyses pricing process in the french public firms as a strategic game between the various departments of the ministère des Finances (Budget, Trésor, Concurrence et consommation). Each department has its own criteria to judge the economic situation of the public firms : the balance sheet and the amount of grants for the Budget; the cash-flow and the debt ratio of the firms for the Trésor ; the price-index for the Concurrence et consommation. The game is structured by specific rules and procedures and the choices are made at the political level (i.e. the ministère des Finances). Even if this game is generally considered as a non-sense and costly process for the public firms, the analysis shows that this process is one of the best.