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Social and Financial Stewardship.

Rosita S. Chen

University of Calgary, Canada 1

The Accounting Review 1975

Abstract This article investigates the nature of the stewardship concept, its historical development and implications in financial reporting. This concept of management's stewardship seems to encompass two of the four objectives of accounting suggested by a committee of the American Accounting Association: effectively directing and controlling an organization's human and material resources, and maintaining and reporting on the custodianship or stewardship of resources. Although it is generally recognized as a principal purpose of financial reporting, little research has been conducted as to its specification, and the concept remains without a settled definition. Stewardship is an old concept with a strong religious, particularly Christian, implication. According to Christian theologians, things or resources were created by God, who gave them to all men in common. The essence of things falls under the power of God, and man has only the right to use these things. In order to use them, a possession of the things may become necessary. This gives rise to the concept of property and human ownership.

DOI
10.2308/tar-4512389
Volume
50 (3)
Pages
533-543
Language
en
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BibTeX
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