Can the conceptual framework be all things to all (wo)men?

This paper explores the significant changes which have taken place in recent years, and continue to take place, in relation to the role of, and desirable characteristics of, a conceptual framework (CF). More precisely, we address the following three questions. 1) Why were conceptual frameworks created, or not created? 2) What is the role of conceptual frameworks today? and 3) What is the answer to our title question? While exploring the origins of the search of CF at the beginning of the twentieth century and adopting a multi-national (as well as international) approach, we discuss the origins, role and possible rationales for the economics-based CFs of the IASB and other bodies with a strong Anglo-Saxon influence. This analysis leads us to partially reject the commonly held view that public-sector regulators have, and need, no conceptual framework. More precisely, our analysis on CF-based standard-setting points out the inherent contradictions in trying to produce a single properly coherent set of notions and practices which is applied in significantly different contexts and for significantly different purposes.