Yuji Ijiri

Fundamental Queries in Aggregation Theory

Abstract Aggregation articles in various areas of economics, statistics, and accounting are surveyed to develop a common body of fundamental queries which underlie these articles. The conditions for total consistency between a microsystem and a macrosystem that have been developed for various systems are investigated and are related to the consistency conditions for general relational systems. This is followed by an analysis of other types of queries commonly observed in the aggregation literature, e.g., partial consistency, errors and biases, evaluation and selection of aggregation functions. Finally, an assessment is made of the significance of aggregation theory in scientific investigations.

A dialogue on momentum accounting for brand management

Abstract Brand accounting systems are helpful in allocating resources internally between existing and start-up brands, in tracking the performance of brands over time, and in understanding competitive relationships across multiple brands. In this paper, a dialogue between an accountant Alpha and a brand manager Beta examines various aspects of momentum accounting systems for brand management. The paper then addresses several implementation issues, such as accounting for momentum components that dissipate at different rates. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of field experiences in developing brand accounting systems.

Convergence of Cash Recovery Rate

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the convergence of cash recovery rate. The fact that, for a wide range of projects, recovery rate converges to the capital recovery factor has an economic significance in evaluating corporate profitability. A corporation invests in a variety of projects, each having a different cash recovery pattern. However, if it is reasonable to assume that a mix of such projects as well as the cash flow patterns of these projects are reasonably stable over time, then corporate investments is regarded as repeated investments in a given composite project with a given cash flow pattern over its life. For a mature corporation, this may be a reasonable assumption. While it is true that a corporation continually seeks new ventures, their impact on the composite project seems to be relatively small in many cases.

Multidimensional accounting and distributed databases: Their implications for organizations and society

Abstract The motivation behind multidimensional accounting is elaborated and extended to an accounting system built upon a database. This system may serve as the predecessor to a national system of distributed databases that integrates micro-accounting and macro-accounting systems. Two implications for organizations and society are examined: first, the need to standardize information requirements, and second, the need to protect privacy. Recent advances in the application and development of cryptosystems are examined. These advances enhance security and the protection of privacy within a database in a simple and inexpensive fashion.

Usefulness Lost: Aggregating Information with Differing Levels of Verifiability

In this paper, we study information asymmetries about verifiability between a principal and an agent. Our main result is that an information asymmetry about verifiability not only reduces the usefulness of a given performance measure for stewardship purposes, it can completely destroy that performance measures usefulness.