Abstract
This study explains the theoretical meaning of “principles-based” as a discourse and examines how this discourse roles and functions in the global diffusion of International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS）. Our findings show that the concept of “principles-based” is vague and ambiguous ; the relationship between “principles-based” and “rules-based” are not the conceptual dichotomy ; and in the continuum between the pure principles-based standards and the pure rules-based standards, the division between “principles-based” and “rules-based” could not exist and was only a problem on extent or comparative positions. Nevertheless, the superiority of “principles-based” was a lot discussed as if it had positivity. We consider this assertion is rhetoric
and try to create hypotheses to interpret accounting phenomena with a new perspective.
