Showing papers in "Accounting History in 2017"
TL;DR: A discussion on the issues, opportunities and obstacles which may arise when accounting history is used in the context of accounting history was presented at the 8 Accounting History International Conference as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Originating in a panel presentation at the eighth Accounting History International Conference, this study offers a reflection on the issues, opportunities and obstacles which may arise when account...
24 citations
TL;DR: The role of charities in the administration of health care and poverty, and the use of accounting in their control mechanisms, is a relatively unexplored topic in the accounting history literature as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The role of charities in the administration of health care and poverty, and the use of accounting in their control mechanisms, is a relatively unexplored topic in the accounting history literature....
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the accounting techniques that the Companhia Geral do Grao Para e Maranhao applied to its slave trading operations during the slave trade were analyzed based on extensive archival research.
Abstract: Based on extensive archival research, this study documents and analyses the accounting techniques that the Companhia Geral do Grao Para e Maranhao applied to its slave trading operations during the...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show the contributions to the accounting history literature made by Italian scholars working in the second half of the nineteenth century, who comprised the authors of this paper.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to show the contributions to the accounting history literature made by Italian scholars working in the second half of the nineteenth century. These scholars comprised the...
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the debate in accounting reflects a greater debate between postmodern and traditional historians, one which questions both the nature of historiography and the historian's role in society.
Abstract: Garry Carnegie recently concluded that ‘the key development in accounting historiography between 1983 and 2012 has been the advent of new accounting history’. We agree and believe that the debate in accounting reflects a greater debate between postmodern and traditional historians – one which questions both the nature of historiography and the historian’s role in society. As a participant in this debate, Michael Gaffikin criticized traditionalists (in accounting) for failing to assess developments in the general history literature. This article responds to Gaffikin’s critique. We initially describe the key issues in the debate between postmodern and traditional historians. We review the current general history literature and then recount how the debate played out in three distinct episodes in accounting historiography in which the authors directly participated. We conclude by assessing the current state of accounting historiography.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative analysis of the role of accounting in British disablement pensions awarded to men who sustained shell shock during their Army service in the First World War is presented.
Abstract: This research is a qualitative analysis of the role of accounting in British disablement pensions awarded to men who sustained shell shock during their Army service in the First World War. It suggests that accounting classification of shell shock for pension determination purposes supported a view of shell shock which made men with shell shock scapegoats of a system that was often unsupportive. Accounting classification contributed to the lack of support by distancing pension decision-makers from the moral consequences of pension determinations. This was able to occur because the British government used accounting classification as part of a mechanism to avoid blame for its pension determination choices. This research contributes to an ongoing debate about the role of government by suggesting that the functions of government provide opportunities for accounting to simultaneously serve a neutral role as mere inscription while being a social and moral construct.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the first part of this article considers some epistemological ideas based on Popperian and pragmatist philosophies, and concludes that there is no point in researching accounting history.
Abstract: Is there any point in researching accounting history? To answer this question, the first part of this article considers some epistemological ideas based on Popperian and pragmatist philosophies. Us...
16 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a historical approach to understand the implementation of mandatory rotation, based on the French case, in which the auditing profession in France is strongly regulated, with four main provisions designed to reinforce auditors independence: prohibitions on a priori and a posteriori incompatibilities, a 6-year audit tenure, a ban on non-audit services, and the use of joint audit.
Abstract: Mandatory rotation of auditors or of audit firms has been the subject of extensive debate among academics, professionals, and regulators, especially since the financial crisis of the 2000s. Does rotation enhance auditors’ independence and audit quality? The research evidence on the impact of mandatory audit firm rotation on audit quality and auditor independence is inconclusive. This article offers a historical approach to understanding the implementation of mandatory rotation, based on the French case. The auditing profession in France is strongly regulated, with four main provisions designed to reinforce auditors’ independence: prohibitions on a priori and a posteriori incompatibilities, a 6-year audit tenure, a ban on non-audit services, and the use of joint audit. The rotation of auditors was merely an additional and non-compulsory tool. However, in 2014, the European Commission decided to implement the mandatory rotation of audit firms despite the opposition of the French accounting profession and re...
15 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the role that discursive regimes of acco... in providing support for the disabled in Australia since the early 20th century and found that public welfare programs played a central role in the provision of support for disabled people in Australia.
Abstract: Public welfare programs have played a central role in providing support for the disabled in Australia since the early twentieth century. This study examines the role that discursive regimes of acco...
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the Industrial Revolution as a major discontinuity in Western development and place an overwhelming emphasis on the industrial revolution as the major cause of the decline.
Abstract: Prevailing approaches in historical studies have been dominated by a macro view and placed an overwhelming emphasis on the Industrial Revolution as a major discontinuity in Western development. On ...
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of the questions which vexed early leaders of the Society of Accountants in Edinburgh, focusing on issues such as members committing criminal acts, problems with delineating the professional space, advertising and the quality of training of apprentice accountants.
Abstract: The intangible qualities of honesty and integrity are essential elements of the ethos of the accounting profession. This article reflects on the changing and continuous nature of questions of professional ethics within the Society of Accountants in Edinburgh. Using the Society’s archives, it presents a review of the questions which vexed early leaders of that body. A historical analysis of these issues helps place current concerns about professional conduct into an appropriate temporal perspective and demonstrates the deep-rooted nature of challenges in forming a notion of professional ethics. The article focusses on issues such as members committing criminal acts, problems with delineating the professional space, advertising and the quality of training of apprentice accountants. The article adds to our understanding of the creation of an ethical framework governing the behaviour of professional accountants in one jurisdiction during the first century of the existence of an organised profession. The presentation of individual cases provides a personal touch and adds depth to the analysis.
TL;DR: In this article, an archive-based case study uses accounting and related records to uncover details of the everyday life of the captains, sailors and seamen who manned the ships that allowed Portuguese slave trade.
Abstract: This archive-based case study uses accounting and related records to uncover details of the everyday life of the captains, sailors and seamen who manned the ships that allowed Portuguese slave trad...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose that the concrete ecological principles underlying Earth's life-restorative natural ecosystems provide a much more appropriate language to guide a sustainable human economy than the abstract language of accounting and finance.
Abstract: It is now clear that endlessly growing consumption of resources in the global human economy imperils Earth’s life-sustaining biosystem and threatens human existence as we know it. Long-term sustainability of human and non-human life can be achieved only by creating an entirely new economy that eschews the current economy’s pursuit of continuous growth and concentrates, instead, on re-focusing human activities from the global to the local level in organizations that exist to fulfill genuine and concrete human and non-human needs, not to maximize financial wealth of corporations, their shareholders and their top managers. However, impeding this move to a new economy is the widespread belief that “accounting is the language of business.” This article proposes that the concrete ecological principles underlying Earth’s life-restorative natural ecosystems provide a much more appropriate language to guide a sustainable human economy than the abstract language of accounting and finance.
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the relationship between financial and management accounting in Germany is provided, and the authors argue that the changing relationship between management and financial accounting in the German context illustrates how current accounting practice is shaped not only by its environment, but also by its historical path.
Abstract: German accounting has traditionally followed a dual ledger approach with strictly separated internal cost accounting, as the basis for management information, and external financial accounting focusing on creditor protection and based on the commercial law. However, the increased adoption of integrated accounting system implies a significant change in the relationship between financial and management accounting systems. We use Hegelian dialectic to trace the historical development of German accounting from separated systems towards antithetical propositions of full integration, and the emergence of partial integration as the synthesis of this transformation process. For this reason, our paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the relationship between financial and management accounting in Germany. On this basis, we elaborate how financial accounting in Germany has been shaped by its economic context and legislation, and how financial accounting – accompanied by institutional pressures – in turn influenced management accounting. We argue that the changing relationship between management and financial accounting in the German context illustrates how current accounting practice is shaped not only by its environment, but also by its historical path. Based on this reasoning, we discuss several avenues for future research.
TL;DR: The 8AHIC 2016 special issue on accounting history in diverse settings as mentioned in this paper is the most recent edition of the journal's journal refereeing process, focusing on accounting as social practice in diverse environments.
Abstract: It brings pleasure to introduce the special issue theme ‘Accounting history in diverse settings’ and to have been provided with the opportunity to be the guest editors of this issue. It features further developed and refined papers, based on the journal refereeing process, that were initially presented at the eighth Accounting History International Conference (8AHIC), held in Ballarat, Australia, during 19–21 August 2015. In what follows, we address accounting as social practice in diverse settings, discuss the dimensions of diversity, outline the five papers which appear in this issue and provide some concluding comments.
TL;DR: The role played by accounting in an industrial company in which elements of utopian socialism and capitalism co-existed is described in this article, where the case is the Royal Silk Factory.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to describe the role played by accounting in an industrial company in which elements of utopian socialism and capitalism co-existed. The case is the Royal Silk Factory fo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the Sunbeam Corporation's path to failure and explore the reasons for its singularity, from the analysis of US fraud cases included in the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Resolution.
Abstract: This article closely examines the Sunbeam Corporation’s path to failure and explores the reasons for its singularity. From the analysis of US fraud cases included in the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Res...
TL;DR: This paper examined the use of financial mechanisms to impose controls while facilitating blame avoidance by public office-holders, and used a qualitative historical examination to examine the role of finance in these mechanisms.
Abstract: This research examines the use of financial mechanisms to impose controls while facilitating blame avoidance by public office-holders. A qualitative historical examination is used to examine legisl...
TL;DR: The list of selected publications, including book reviews, published in English is intended to assist accounting history researchers and those with an interest in accounting history scholarship to gain an appreciation of recent contributions to the literature.
Abstract: This list of selected publications, including book reviews, published in English is intended to assist accounting history researchers and those with an interest in accounting history scholarship to gain an appreciation of recent contributions to the literature. It is not intended to be an exhaustive listing and the exclusion of a publication from the list is not a reflection of the quality or potential contribution of the publication. Rather, the items listed may be viewed as indicative of the types of research conducted over the period. It does not include articles which are published online, but have yet to appear in the journal issue.
TL;DR: An overview of the conferences, colloquia and symposia held to the time of writing is provided along with a discussion of the key distinguishing features of these integrated forums of discourse as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the emergence and development of all conferences, colloquia and symposia connected with Accounting History, a specialist, English-language international journal. These journal-associated events comprise an integrated, multidimensional set of scholarly forums which have contributed to the international accounting history movement. This article presents an historical account of the motivation for establishing the Accounting History International Conference and the later associated colloquia, first, in the form of the Accounting History Doctoral Colloquium and, second, the Accounting History International Emerging Scholars' Colloquium, as part of the international strategy of the New Series of the journal from 1996. Regional symposia across Australia and New Zealand, known as the Accounting History Symposium, were also introduced under a holistic approach to nurturing historical accounting research. An overview of the conferences, colloquia and symposia held to the time of writing is provided along with a discussion of the key distinguishing features of these integrated forums of discourse.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the evolution of the debate over the recurring issues of independence and competence of auditors during the period of the emergence of statutory auditing in France (1867-1966).
Abstract: This article studies the evolution of the debate over the recurring issues of independence and competence of auditors during the period of the emergence of statutory auditing in France (1867–1966)....
TL;DR: This paper present an argument supporting the view that the ideology driving the notion of New Public Management (NPM) is not a new or recent aspect of public sector financial reform, rather, significant public discussions were exploring the pros and cons of various financial reforms based on this ideology.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present an argument supporting the view that the ideology driving the notion of New Public Management (NPM) is not a new or recent aspect of public sector financial reform. Rather, back in the early nineteenth century, significant public discussions were exploring the pros and cons of various financial reforms based on this ideology. The research approach taken in this study is based on a semi-fictitious conversation created between key early nineteenth century public commentators, Sir Henry Parnell and Sir Samuel Bentham. The conversation is constructed through a reflection of the key themes and perspectives presented in Sir Henry Parnell’s pamphlet ‘On financial reform’, first edition published in 1830, and Sir Samuel Bentham’s 1830 letter in response titled ‘Financial reform scrutinized’.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used institutional theory for the purpose of providing a critical explanation as to why the annual reports of an Australian Commonwealth Government changed between the years 1942 and 1970.
Abstract: This research utilises institutional theory for the purpose of providing a critical explanation as to why the annual reports of an Australian Commonwealth Government changed between the years 1942
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare the economic history of Transylvania against the general evolution of accounting practice and thought, and make comparisons with the general European context based on historical and documentary research.
Abstract: Based on historiography and documentary research, this study juxtaposes the economic history of the Principality of Transylvania against the general evolution of accounting practice and thought, and makes comparisons with the general European context. Along with providing evidence for a less-researched area, the discussion on the sophistication of accounting through successive stages – from 1541 to 1918 – is useful for enabling other regional comparative studies. This study argues that there was a delay in the evolution of accounting in Transylvania compared to the development of European accounting, with the gap growing smaller towards the end of World War I. The pace of economic development, initially extremely slow, increased and triggered the emergence of capitalism, hence the development of double-entry bookkeeping and scientific accounting. In this way, Sombart’s ideas and the post-Sombart theses are supported. Imperial (Austro-Hungarian) political domination and the region’s social structure played...
TL;DR: Gaffikin this article wrote a personal account of what inspired and drove him, and what I (and we) have learnt and can learn from him, since as an accounting historian, he was concerned with
Abstract: Emeritus Professor Michael Gaffikin died in Dublin on 21 February 2017. When the news of his death exploded within the academic community, there was an outpouring of shock, grief, and disappointment that he had left us. We remember his achievements, but we also remember the kind of man he was and what he meant to us. This personal account is my reflection on Michael’s work and legacy. It outlines what I believe inspired and drove him, and what I (and we) have learnt and can learn from him, since as an accounting historian, he was concerned with
TL;DR: The auditing profession is close to a turning point in its development as mentioned in this paper, with the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the introduction of independent regulation, but it is not clear that this book is the history of auditing that is needed.
Abstract: The auditing profession is close to a turning point in its development. Perhaps that turning point has occurred in the recent past, with the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act or the introduction of independent regulation. Perhaps it is about to happen in the near future with reporting on key audit matters or some other unforeseen change. In any case, we are at a point where in future it will be clear that momentous events were happening to the world of auditing. As a result, this is a good time to review the history of auditing, and especially the history of the Big Four firms which dominate it. How did we get to where we are? Why are there so many insoluble problems? Jim Peterson addresses many important current issues, but it is not clear that this book is the history of auditing that is needed. The book is short (240 pages) and written in a racy, highly readable style. It begins with a trenchant foreword that calls the firms ‘Big Audit’, describes the standard audit opinion as an outmoded product and declares that the Big Audit model is ‘unsuitable beyond salvation’. The book then proceeds to three chapters, loosely on the themes of the past (34 pages), the present (146 pages) and the future (38 pages). The chapter on the past goes back as far as 1851 and is illustrated by the (very brief) audit report issued by Mr W.W. Deloitte on the financial statements of the Great Western Railway in 1850. While the chapter draws on the history of auditing, most of the history it reports is very recent, concentrating on Enron and other scandals of the twenty-first century. Peterson here presents his arguments that the ‘obsolete obligations’ of appearance of independence are holding back auditors from taking opportunities to be able to add value. Peterson, as a lawyer, then feels a traditional obligation to tell his readers that auditing is boring and to repeat an ancient and lame joke about the profession of ‘bean-counters’. The long chapter on the present state of audit mainly goes into what the author sees as the underlying problems or weaknesses of auditing. These include, among many other highly relevant issues, the following: