Concepts, Accounting Treatment and Pricing of Data Assets

Abstract

In the era of digital economy, data assets, as one of the important nodes in the valorization of data elements, have received a great deal of attention from policymakers, academics and the industry. Due to the public goods attributes of data resources such as non-exclusivity and non-competitiveness, there are many new challenges in the accounting treatment and pricing of data assets, which have a significant impact on corporate financial reporting, enterprise value assessment and stakeholder decision-making. In the macro context where the usefulness of accounting information is being questioned, the importance of a clear and persuasive definition of the concept of data assets and a discussion on the accounting treatment and pricing of data assets has become more prominent. This paper aims to address the following research questions based on sorting out the conceptual evolution and characteristics of data assets: what is the definition of data assets? Is it necessary and how to adjust or design accounting standards to regulate the accounting treatment of data assets? How can data assets be reasonably priced? This paper summarizes the conceptual evolution of data assets based on the development stage of the digital economy, and characterizes the characteristics of data assets based on the analysis of data resources. Combined with the characteristics of data assets, it provides useful insights into the reform of their accounting treatment. This paper helps to enrich and develop the accounting theory of data assets, provide theoretical basis for the accounting treatment and pricing of data assets, and obtain theoretical support for the corporate governance and policy making practice of data assets.