Risk and uncertainty: Essence and impact on financial statements

In the article, the author examines the history of the issue of the essence of risk and uncertainty, referring to the works of representatives of different economic schools: mercantilism, the school of physiocrats, classical political economy, Marxism, neoclassical economic theory, the Keynesian school, institutionalism, evolutionary economic theory and the information-behavioral paradigm. Historically, economists were prompted to turn to the categories of uncertainty and risk by the problem of profit emergence and attempts to explain the phenomenon of profit. According to the author, all the considered approaches to understanding the essence of economic risk complement each other and it is inappropriate to study the category of risk from the position of only one of the approaches, since this does not allow revealing as many facets of such a phenomenon as risk as possible. Attention is paid to the problem of rethinking the probabilistic paradigm of risk, which arose in connection with the development of the mathematical apparatus of risk assessment. The objective, subjective and mixed concepts of economic risk are considered, the philosophical view of the category of risk is explored. The author analyzes a number of interpretations of the term "risk". The most common definitions of the concept of "risk" in scientific works are the definitions based on the understanding of risk as the probability of occurrence of certain consequences after an economic entity makes a decision. The author's point of view is put forward regarding the essential differences between risk and uncertainty. For the first time, these categories were distinguished by F.H. Knight in 1921, but in modern scientific research one can still find the use of the terms risk and uncertainty as synonyms. The author's interpretation of the concept of risk from the position of accounting is proposed: risk is an object of observation in the accounting system, representing the possibility of deviation of actual accounting indicators from forecast ones as a result of choosing a management decision from several alternative decision options in conditions of provision with a limited amount of reliable information. The development of scientific ideas about the nature of economic risk and uncertainty, including in the theory of accounting, will allow us to further develop a classification of the risks of an economic entity, the impact of which can be taken into account and assessed using estimated reserves and estimated liabilities in the accounting system, clearly define the list of these accounting objects, and develop a methodology for their formation. Ultimately, the theoretical and practical developments listed above will improve the quality of information contained in financial statements, on the basis of which users of the statements make management decisions. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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