HICKS ON ACCOUNTING

Whenever income and capital maintenance concepts are discussed at the conceptual level, a reference to Hicks is likely to be found. These references are misleading since Hicks himself believed that the proper basis of valuation in the financial statements of a firm is historical cost. He also argued that accountants should not make price-level adjustments. Hicks' views on accounting, which are scattered in his writings over a period of 35 years, are reviewed in this paper.