Knowledge that Transforms

Abstract Reviews the book "Financial Statement Analysis: A New Approach," by Baruch Lev.

Abstract Presents a study which aimed to examine the interpretations of the Abnormal Performance Index (API) in an effort to clarify the extent to which these can be used to justify or rationalize the API as a research technique. Definition of API as applied in studies on the relationship between abnormal security return and earnings under selected accounting alternatives; Expected value of the API; Expected value computations under the association interpretation of API.

Abstract Presents a response to a letter to the editor regarding the role of behavioral measures in accounting for human resources, published in this issue of the periodical.

Abstract Reviews the book 'Finney and Miller's Principles of Accounting, Intermediate,' by Glenn L. Johnson and James A. Gentry, Jr.

Abstract Reviews the book "A History of Accounting Thought," by Michael Chatfield.

Abstract The evidence of a need for subjective probabilities exists in the accounting literature. Control theory uses subjective probabilities. Depreciation accounting and human resource accounting need these probabilities. Confidence intervals for financial statements may be a type of subjective probability distribution. Accounting experimental researchers have obtained subjective probability responses from their subjects. Accountants, as information evaluators, must be able to express their own subjective probabilities as well as utilize the subjective probabilities of others. The purpose of this article is to explore the research that has been undertaken to obtain the available evidence concerning the theory of how to elicit subjective probabilities in order to help satisfy the expressed need. The theory and research findings will follow a brief review of the nature of probabilities. The type of elicitation techniques used and their effects, the subject's knowledge effects, the conservatism on group elicitation are presented in the sections that follow.

Abstract This article presents an analysis of the provisions of the "Accounting for Retail Land Sales" guide, published by the a committee on land development companies, established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This committee was established when the problems of accounting for land development companies began to receive considerable attention in financial publications and in non-accounting journals. The AICPA committee presented an exposure draft which required, among other things, that land subdivision companies postpone recognition of revenue from installment contracts until at least a 10% down payment was collected and that a company's collection experience met certain requirements. The guide provides for a modified accrual method to be used if certain conditions are met. Otherwise the installment sales method should be employed. The identifying characteristic of the land development company is the acquisition of large tracts of unimproved land for subdivision into lots for sale to widely dispersed retail customers through intensive marketing programs.

Abstract This article focuses on contributions of accounting professor Ananias Charles Littleton, who died on January 13, 1974, to the field of accounting thought and practice. The impact of Littleton's efforts on accounting thought is particularly noteworthy because of the time period spanned by his work and because of the influence of his early academic thinking on subsequent organized accounting thought. His contributions in the area of accounting education, theory, and practice were continuous from the time he returned to the University of Illinois in 1915 to begin a teaching career until the mid-1960s, well past his retirement in 1952. The son of a railroad worker, at the time of the industrial growth of the Midwest, in an area where livelihood centered around agriculture, he absorbed both the steadfastness and self-reliance of the farming community and the sense of progress accompanying the industrial growth. In 1933, Littleton published what has become a classic in the field of accounting history, a prodigious volume entitled "Accounting Evolution to 1900."

Abstract Reviews the book "Direct Cost and Contribution Accounting: An Integrated Management Accounting System," by Germain Boer.

Abstract Presents a historical background on the growth and development of the 'The Accounting Review,' a publication of the American Accounting Association (AAA). Foundation of AAA; Features of the periodical in the first ten years; How the periodical responded to the transition after World War II.