Establishing modern enterprise system has become one of the basic points of economic system reform at this stage. It seems that both the theoretical circle and the relevant government departments understand the basic characteristics of the modern enterprise system as: clear property rights, clear rights and responsibilities, separation of government and enterprise, and scientific management. Among them, putting property rights clearly before the four basic characteristics is enough to show its prominent position in establishing a modern enterprise system. It also further verifies the sentence of R.H. Coase: "The division of asset rights is the basic premise of market transactions."
Property right, also known as "property ownership"; Another group of more abstract viewpoints is to reflect the ownership relationship of property in the form of law from the superstructure. People's understanding of property rights is not consistent, and different people have different views. Inclined to the view of British scholar P Abel in his "Labor-Capital Partnership: The Third Political and Economic Form": "What I mean by property right is ownership, that is, excluding others from controlling property. The right to use, that is, the right to enjoy and use property, is different from the right to operate and the right to income. Management right, that is, the right to decide how to use the property and by whom. The right to share the residual income or assume obligations, that is, the right to share the income and costs arising from the use or management of property. "
So I agree with P. Abel's view because this understanding of property rights conforms to the theory of "separability of property rights" and it is easier to guide the basic view of property rights economics: "property rights system is the key factor affecting economy and economic growth."
Based on the above understanding of property rights, clarifying property rights means several meanings: first, it is necessary to clarify the ownership of assets of enterprises (whether state-owned enterprises or joint-stock enterprises), that is, who has the right to claim and claim the assets of enterprises; Secondly, we should implement the agency power and responsibility of asset management, that is, who will manage and how to manage the enterprise; Thirdly, it is necessary to clarify the right to share the residual income (surplus) of the enterprise, that is, who can share the surplus of the enterprise; Finally, build a new and effective property right system.
Even in the period of planned economy, it cannot be said that the property right relationship of state-owned enterprises is in a state of chaos, because the ownership of state-owned enterprise assets is clear in the Constitution and relevant laws and regulations. However, we should also see that just the phrase "the assets of state-owned enterprises are owned by the state" does not mean that the creditor's rights relationship of enterprise assets can be clearly stated, nor does it help to implement the civil liabilities that state-owned enterprises should bear as enterprise legal persons, such as obligations to creditors. State-owned enterprises under the market economy environment, like other enterprises with the same nature and other organizational forms, must raise funds from various channels in the market in the name of enterprise legal persons, not in the name of enterprise owners. Therefore, it is necessary to straighten out the property right relationship of enterprise assets and explain it clearly, not from the nature of enterprise ownership, but from the different providers of enterprise assets and their rights and interests. Therefore, it is very important to find a way to explain the property right relationship of enterprise assets clearly.
So far, accounting can best explain the relationship between enterprise assets and property rights. The reason why accounting can clearly explain the property right relationship of enterprise assets depends on defining accounting subject, determining accounting elements and unique methods of confirmation, measurement and reporting.
Generally speaking, the accounting entity refers to a specific unit that needs accounting services. In fact, the significance of accounting subjects is not just that. Defining the accounting entity is actually equivalent to defining the scope of rights and interests of enterprise legal persons. On the one hand, the accounting entity defines all kinds of assets that a certain entity (such as an enterprise) can control or own and its commitments and obligations; On the other hand, it is required to clearly distinguish the financial revenue and expenditure of the main legal person assets from the financial revenue and expenditure of other entities, and clearly distinguish the main legal person assets and financial revenue and expenditure from the financial revenue and expenditure of the main owner. Obviously, without the concept of accounting entity, it is impossible to define the legal person assets of each enterprise in the market environment; The obligations of an enterprise as a legal person, such as repaying principal and interest, and ensuring the preservation and appreciation of capital, cannot be implemented; All kinds of creditor's rights and creditor's rights-enterprise asset rights and interests can not be protected under the premise of clear definition; The operating results and financial situation of the enterprise itself cannot be measured correctly.
Since accounting plays an important role in straightening out the relationship between enterprise property rights, accounting itself should have a set of theories and methods to guide practice, confirm, measure and report rights and interests. It can be seen that in the double-entry bookkeeping method with a history of more than five centuries, there are different lessons in the recognition and measurement of rights and interests, especially owners' rights and interests, thus forming different theories. This article will focus on this aspect. Accounting equity theory
From the perspective of equity theory, there are many forms of owner's equity. The owner's rights and interests that people are most concerned about are nothing more than the right to distribute profits and dispose of assets, the right to its remaining assets when the enterprise is liquidated, and the right to sell or transfer property rights. From the perspective of enterprise accounting, one of its purposes is to reflect or prompt the owner's rights and interests in a specific way, so that the owner will not be infringed.
This part will evaluate and compare all kinds of equity theories, so as to theoretically summarize the alternative models that are helpful to confirm, measure and report the owner's equity. From different angles, several rights and interests theories can be summarized: owner theory, independent subject theory, residual rights and interests theory, enterprise theory and fund theory. It should be pointed out that each theory tries to explain the interests of different rights holders from its own position. Different equity theories emphasize different profit concepts and asset pricing principles.
Speaking of the nature of rights and interests, we will naturally think of the meaning of the word rights and interests. The word "rights and interests" has two connotations, one is fairness and the other is sharing. In other words, rights and interests can be expressed as a fair share held by someone (legal person or natural person). Theoretically speaking, creditors and owners, as providers of enterprise assets, have relatively fair possession of enterprise assets. The only difference lies in the different rights enjoyed by their respective shares. But in the accounting sense, "rights and interests" mainly refers to the right to claim and claim the assets of enterprises. Therefore, considering the nature difference between the two rights and interests, when describing the property right relationship of enterprise assets, accountants often further expand the accounting equation of "assets = rights and interests" to "assets = creditor's rights and interests+owner's rights and interests".
However, in the relatively perfect capital market environment, due to the diversification of financing channels and financing methods, the identification of its rights and interests is complicated. The emergence of mixed securities in the capital market, such as convertible corporate bonds and convertible preferred shares, can easily lead to difficulties in defining their rights and interests. At present, the issuance and circulation of convertible bonds have appeared in the securities market. There are many ways to define the nature of rights and interests of mixed securities in accounting practice at home and abroad. Generally speaking, the nature of rights and interests can be judged according to the maturity date and repayment date of these securities and the participation of holders in profit distribution and management. When discussing enterprises above, we can find that enterprise theory puts forward a debatable point: human rights and interests of enterprises. Whether an enterprise can own itself is a controversial issue at home and abroad. So far, due to historical problems or practical reasons, some accounting workers are often troubled by this "concept". From the perspective of property rights theory, "a company can only own the rights and interests in its assets, but does not own the assets in its rights and interests". At the end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s, the theoretical and practical circles once discussed a related issue in the joint-stock reform: whether to set up "enterprise shares" in the shares of joint-stock enterprises. So there will be this controversy, mostly because the formation of some joint-stock companies is related to the reorganization of the original state-owned enterprises into joint-stock systems. The transformation of enterprises from the form of property rights owned by the whole people to the form of property rights under the joint-stock system will inevitably involve how the capital in the original state-owned enterprises can be transformed into shares of joint-stock companies.
Those who advocate the establishment of "enterprise shares" believe that the so-called enterprise shares refer to: "The assets formed by the accumulation fund accumulated by enterprises over the years, after the existing enterprises owned by the whole people can realize profits, the assets formed by enterprises' self-retained funds and repayment of loans are regarded as * * * ownership enterprise shares", "Generally, the assets formed by the accumulation of enterprises' own funds are separated from state-owned assets and set as enterprise shares, which belong to the enterprise collective, but do not belong to any individual member of the collective.