The Crisis of Fair Value Accounting: Making Sense of the Recent Debate

Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 33

Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 34, 2009

28 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2009

See all articles by Christian Laux

Christian Laux

Vienna University of Economics and Business; Vienna Graduate School of Finance (VGSF); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Christian Leuz

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Leibniz Institute SAFE; CESifo Research Network; Center for Financial Studies (CFS)

Date Written: April, 21 2009

Abstract

The recent financial crisis has led to a vigorous debate about the pros and cons of fair-value accounting (FVA). This debate presents a major challenge for FVA going forward and standard setters’ push to extend FVA into other areas. In this article, we highlight four important issues as an attempt to make sense of the debate. First, much of the controversy results from confusion about what is new and different about FVA. Second, while there are legitimate concerns about marking to market (or pure FVA) in times of financial crisis, it is less clear that these problems apply to FVA as stipulated by the accounting standards, be it IFRS or U.S. GAAP. Third, historical cost accounting (HCA) is unlikely to be the remedy. There are a number of concerns about HCA as well and these problems could be larger than those with FVA. Fourth, although it is difficult to fault the FVA standards per se, implementation issues are a potential concern, especially with respect to litigation. Finally, we identify several avenues for future research.

Keywords: Mark-to-market, Fair value accounting, Financial institutions, Liquidity, Financial crisis, Banks, Procyclicality

JEL Classification: G14, G15, G30, K22, M41, M49

Suggested Citation

Laux, Christian and Leuz, Christian, The Crisis of Fair Value Accounting: Making Sense of the Recent Debate (April, 21 2009). Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 33, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 34, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1392645

Christian Laux

Vienna University of Economics and Business ( email )

Welthandelsplatz 1
Vienna, Wien 1020
Austria

Vienna Graduate School of Finance (VGSF) ( email )

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Austria

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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Belgium

Christian Leuz (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/christian.leuz/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

Leibniz Institute SAFE ( email )

(http://www.safe-frankfurt.de)
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 3
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Germany

CESifo Research Network

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Center for Financial Studies (CFS) ( email )

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Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

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