Unanswered questions in accounting

Sometimes I feel researchers in accounting are, in part, insecure about finding research questions that are deeply tied to accounting and, for that one reason, seek out questions from other fields. But we need more accounting papers, so I'm using this page to state what I think are fundamental unanswered questions, relevant to all methodologies (including field and case analysis).

Question 1: Is double-entry bookkeeping the only possible operational model of measurement, up to issues of presentation?

If yes: How should we think about an operational model? How does it differ from pure information disclosure? (or recognition vs. disclosure).

If no: What other theories of accounting are possible? How did accounting evolve toward double-entry bookkeeping? How do various theories differ?

The analogy to the natural sciences is very clear here. Physics, for example, has many competing theories: broad systems like Newtonian vs relativity vs quantum physics, as well as fundamental ingredients such as laws. It is possible to think about physical worlds in which these systems/laws have been changed, some of these worlds may be different from ours but not necessarily completely alien.

Is this true also of accounting, that double-entry bookkeeping is one among many possible forms of accounting, that there could have been well-functioning economic systems without double-entry bookkeeping? Or is double-entry a tautology that is only, and no more, than a set of terms imposed on types of information?

Question 2: How do we evaluate the performance of an accounting rule and choose what performance means?

Standard-setters write accounting rules, enforcement bodies monitor their application, but there is no feedback mechanism that explains whether an accounting rule is effective or ineffective at doing what it is supposed to do. In a complete state vagueness, it is not entirely clear what "being useful to investors means" for practical purposes. Compare this, for example, to other institutions. The Fed supports long-term stable growth, so that GDP and its volatility are clear, albeit long-term, measures of its effectiveness - indeed, its work was criticized on those grounds during the Stop & Go years. A president aims to implementing popular/democratic ideas, and it can be evaluated based on midterm elections or reelections.