Cooperative Form, the Value and the Allocation of Joint Costs and Benefits

摘要

The problem of the assignment of joint costs (and benefits) is one which has bedevilled accountants for many years. A reaction by a microeconomist oriented towards marginal analysis may be why bother to assign overheads or joint costs at all. The reason for the different attitudes and perceived needs by accountants, economists, regulators, production managers, tax collectors, divisional vice presidents and others is that they are all looking at the same institutional entity from different viewpoints. This paper is being written from the viewpoint of economics and game theory rather than that of the professional accountant. It may be that various nuances of importance to the accounting profession are overlooked or treated in a somewhat different language. However the thrust of this investigation is in terms of cost and revenue allocations as control mechanisms of interest to the economist, accountant and business or public executive.