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‘Money does not stink’ – Accounting and slavery Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-03-15 Daniel Tinkelman
This article supplements the multidisciplinary effort sparked by the New York Times's 1619 Project to focus attention on institutions and practices that supported American slavery. Managerial and financial accounting practices support many types of endeavours. Accounting is usually done for managers, investors, and creditors. Accounting practices supported investment in, and management of slavery,
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Accounting for colonial domination in Liberal and Fascist Italy, 1912–1941 Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-03-14 Valerio Antonelli, Michele Bigoni, Raffaele D’Alessio, Warwick Funnell
This article addresses the role played by accounting in the government of the Italian colonies of Africa during the Liberal and Fascist periods. Drawing upon the work of Foucault, Scott and Said and their understandings of governmentality and colonialism, and using a wide range of primary sources, the article contributes to the accounting history literature by showing how calculative practices in the
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Performance management in the Australian higher education system – A historically informed critique Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-02-21 Lee D Parker, James Guthrie, Ann Martin-Sardesai
This article aims to provide a historical perspective of neoliberalism and new public management practices in the Australian higher education system from the early 1980s to contemporary times. Drawing on historical and contemporary data sets and research articles, it evaluates historical changes in control systems and metrics applied to university teaching and research. From an audit culture framework
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How does accounting save lives? An econometric analysis exploring the effectiveness of the Crispi-Pagliani Health Reform (1888) in Italy Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-02-20 Tiziana Di Cimbrini, Alessio Maria Musella, Giovanni Fosco
This study compares the healthcare management systems for cholera epidemics in Italy before and after the Crispi-Pagliani Health Reform of 1888. Specifically, we compare the monitoring, accounting, and reporting systems of deaths and infections during the 1884 and 1893 epidemics. Based on an econometric analysis of data from the Italian National Statistical Institute, we demonstrate that the post-reform
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Accounting for natural disasters: An historical perspective Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-02-20 Massimo Sargiacomo
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Extrinsic shocks and corporate accounting behaviour: The case of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Yuta Sumi, Takashi Kitaura, Yasuhiro Shimizu, Masayoshi Noguchi
This study examines how the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 influenced the depreciation disclosure practice adopted by Japanese companies in the years that followed. Prior to World War II, corporate accounting behaviour varied widely in Japan, as there were few substantive rules regulating the contents of financial statements. Assessing how a large-scale extrinsic shock such as a major earthquake affects
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Chaos and comedy: The narrative of Samuel Turner III Accounting History Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Lee Moerman, Sandra van der Laan
The advent of World War I in Britain saw a politicisation of profit, heightened by pre-existing labour unrest, State intervention, industrial disruption and claims of profiteering. During this time, the prominent industrialist Sir Samuel Turner III (1878–1955) published two books on the role of business, and particularly profits, in society. As an example of contemporary media, we use these books to
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Innovation in accounting historiography: Where to from here? Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-05-04 Carolyn Cordery, Delfina Gomes, Giulia Leoni, Karen McBride, Christopher Napier
The world is facing difficult, uncertain and challenging times, which have consequences for accounting practice, education and research. This new and uncertain environment may lead us to conclude t...
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Accounting, slavery and the slave trade: A multi-continental perspective Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-04-03 Peta Stevenson-Clarke, Bradley Bowden
As in other disciplines, the Atlantic slave-trade and New World slavery have assumed an increasingly contentious role in accounting history. In her Accounting for Slavery, Rosenthal has recently lo...
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Origins of financial analysts in the United States Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-03-27 Jesus R. Jimenez-Andrade
Since the United States securities market's creation and promulgation of the Investment Advisers Act in 1940, financial analysts transitioned from a highly unregulated practice to one of the most h...
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Indigenous peoples and accounting: A systematic literature review Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Mohini Vidwans, Tracy-Anne De Silva
The purpose of this systematic literature review on ‘indigenous peoples and accounting’ is to identify major themes and derive insights to guide future research and policy agendas. We also investig...
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‘It was pop that was making the bread’: Accounting and musical space at Abbey Road studios Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-02-21 Darren Jubb
This research considers the relationship between accounting and physical space, focusing on the creation of musical recordings within the musical and ‘magical’ space of Abbey Road Studios during th...
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When the war is over: Accounting for people with disabilities Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-02-10 Mona Nikidehaghani, Corinne Cortese
We assess the extent to which accounting discourse was used during the aftermath of the Second World War as a way of reconceptualising the notion of a person with disabilities from welfare recipien...
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British traditions and contributions to accounting history research Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-02-02 John Richard Edwards
Studies of Britain's accounting history date from the second half of the nineteenth century. Up to 1970 contributions to what became labelled the ‘traditional’ accounting history literature came fr...
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The 1908 earthquake of Messina: An accounting perspective on the city's reconstruction between faith and Fascism Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-01-31 Carlo Vermiglio, Rosa Lombardi, Vincenzo Zarone
This article focuses on the 1923–1937 period when the rise of Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime drove public works programmes. The 1908 earthquake almost destroyed Messina and, in the Fascist perio...
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Prevalence of Fisher's theory in mainstream accounting and economic research Accounting History Pub Date : 2023-01-02 Tiago Cardao-Pito
Irving Fisher's capital-income theory uses the discounted cash-flow model to explain prices, markets, and capitalism. How did his theory get into ‘fair-value’ accounting standards given that his fr...
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The schoty (abacus) as the phenomenon of Russian accounting Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-11-28 Viatcheslav Sokolov, Svetlana Karelskaia, Ekaterina Zuga
The Russian abacus (the schoty [счёты]) is a unique Russian counting device that has no comparable counterparts anywhere in the world. It was developed when a decimal system was introduced in Russi...
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A study of Michelangelo's David from an accountability perspective: Antecedents of dialogic accounting in the early Florentine Renaissance Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-11-16 Giacomo Manetti, Marco Bellucci, Carmela Nitti, Luca Bagnoli
This article contributes to the accounting history literature through an investigation of the realisation and placement of Michelangelo's David from an accountability perspective. Using a contextua...
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The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A giant leap or baby steps to reform? Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-11-01 Hajar Roudaki, Kathie Cooper
The 1972 break-in to the Watergate Democratic headquarters resulted in the first-ever resignation from the office of American President. It also uncovered the use of corporate funds by many US mult...
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Accounting and accountability practices in the obraje of San Ildefonso of Quito: An eighteenth century productive proto-capitalist model Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-08-15 Roberto Rossi, Alan Sangster
The Enlightenment brought a new mercantilist discourse that stimulated new technologies of management to optimise company performance, rendering workers and production phases visible and accountabl...
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Editorial Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-08-02 Carolyn Fowler, Carolyn Cordery, Laura Maran
The August issue includes six research articles, a comprehensive review of Edward's ‘A History of Corporate Financial Reporting in Britain’, and the calls for papers for four upcoming Special Issues: Accounting for Natural Disasters: An Historical Perspective, Accounting History Research in the Age of Digitalisation, Accounting for Death: An Historical Perspective and Historical Accounting for Enterprise
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Distinguished Professor Lee Parker: A biography Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-07-18 Lyn Daff
Distinguished Professor Lee Parker was inducted into the Australian Accounting Hall of Fame in 2020. He has made a significant contribution to interdisciplinary accounting research through his role...
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Lost in translation: Pacioli's de computis et scripturis Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-07-06 Alan Sangster, Fabio Santini
This article seeks to determine how much we understand of Pacioli's purpose, and to clarify what he wrote justifying his preparation and publication of his ‘bookkeeping treatise’ in 1494. The conte...
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Overview of cost accounting practices in France from the early 19th century to the 1880s Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-06-23 Yves Levant, Henri Zimnovitch
The article explores changes in costing practices over forty decades from 1820 to 1880 in France. Its main purpose is to contribute to the dynamic history of changes in cost accounting methods. This dynamic is contained within a broad view of how costing methods have evolved. In industry, the methods became more complex in order to achieve greater precision, as in the agricultural sector, except that
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Accounts from the Backwoods: The role of accounting in an early Upper Canada settlement Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-06-20 Ron Baker
The founding of the town of Guelph, Ontario, was uncommon in that the town was established prior to the development of surrounding agricultural lands. This was done through an arrangement between the British government and a private, for-profit company. Grounded in agency theory, this study examines the establishment of the town and the role of accounting in its early development. The results show
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Accounting in the organisation and life of a religious institution: The Monastery of Santa Ana in the eighteenth century Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-05-31 Delfina Gomes, Laura Maran, Domingos Araújo
Set in the municipal archives of Braga, this article studies the accounting system and practices of the Monastery of Santa Ana, a female monastery located in a small town, Viana do Castelo, in the north of Portugal, during the eighteenth century. This work is a full-scale examination of the interlink between governance and accounting aspects of Benedictine organisations. It sheds light on the extent
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Challenges of IFRS implementation in emerging economies: The case of Lebanon Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-05-24 Sami F. Sadaka
IFRS and their implementation are being associated with globalisation and the increasing influence of global institutions such as the World Bank. This article investigates the challenges of IFRS implementation in Lebanon, an Asian, Middle-Eastern, and an emerging economy. The findings are theoretically framed within the system, society and dominance (SSD) framework. The analysis demonstrates that system
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Non-IFRS and changes in accounting institutions – lessons from Nokia Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-05-18 Antti Rautiainen, Marko Järvenpää, Toni Mättö
We analyse the lessons learned from Nokia to illustrate the changing focus in accounting and organisational practices that affect the perceptions of relevant accounting work and the key measures of success. In the course of an analysis covering 25 years, the introduction of management accounting innovations was first emphasised regarding managerial relevance but were later replaced by financial accounting
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Paweł Ciompa's econometric theory of bookkeeping Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-05-15 Sławomir Sojak
This study aims to present Paweł Ciompa’s (1867–1913) econometric theory of bookkeeping, associated with the banking sector and vocational education in Galicia, a territory seized by Austria as a result of the partition of Poland. Ciompa presented his theory of bookkeeping in Polish in the work Zarys ekonometryi i teorya buchalterii [An outline of econometrics and the theory of bookkeeping] and in
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Strategic change at the Hospital Saint-Jacques at Le Roeulx (Belgium), from the account book of Sister Magdelaine Delcourt Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-04-07 Eddy Edouard Felix,John Parkinson
Prior to going on Crusade in 1202, Baldwin, bailiff of Le Roeulx, gave his house and associated income to found a hospital in the hope of saving his immortal soul. The original objective of the hospital was to sustain the poor and pilgrims (especially those undertaking the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain (the Camino)). However, few pilgrims availed themselves of its facilities
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From subordination to programming: The deadlocks of labour governance by numbers Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-04-07 Alain Supiot
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Examining intersecting lives: Luca Pacioli, father of accounting, and his friend, Leonardo da Vinci Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-04-04 Lawrence Murphy Smith
In 1494, the first printed book on double-entry accounting was written by Franciscan Friar Luca Pacioli, later called the Father of Accounting. He would become close friends with Leonardo da Vinci, the iconic symbol of the Renaissance. This study analyzes simultaneously the lives of Pacioli and Leonardo, using a ‘biographical lens’ approach, incorporating older research and more recent work, to shed
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The contingent career path of the young George O. May Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-04-04 R.H. Parker
Bob Parker explains, in his first paragraph below, that George O. May was a major figure in US accounting. However, this paper was published in a location (Parker 2012) unlikely to be noticed by many accounting historians, let alone American ones. It was the idea of Steve Zeff (whose paper on the leaders of the US profession is referred to below) to ask if Accounting History would reprint it. I am
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On Edwards’ A history of corporate financial reporting in Britain Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-03-16 Kees Camfferman
This paper discusses Edwards’ monograph A History of Corporate Financial Reporting in Britain (2019), drawing comparisons with the 1989 edition. Apart from a general overview and appreciation of the book, the paper discusses two aspects in more detail. It is argued that the focus on Britain, while justified, leads to an understatement of important elements of Britain's interaction with the outside
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Accounting and work in the charities: The case of an Italian institution in the nineteenth century Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-03-16 Mario Nicoliello, Farzaneh Jalali Aliabadi
This research examines the processes of transformation of accounting systems as well as the activity and work of an ancient Italian charity titled the Congrega of the Apostolic Charity (the Congrega) from 1860 to 1886. During this period, various events occurred, such as changes in institutional activities as well as changes in the actors and accounting practices. The results of this study highlight
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Lessons from the Nickel Plate Road, 1881 to 1916: A Railroad Built to be Sold Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-03-01 Craig Foltin, Gary J. Previts, Dale L. Flesher
This study examines the operation of the New York, Chicago & St Louis Railroad Company, which is better known by the name, the Nickel Plate Road (NKP). The operations and financial reports from its inception through the period under study provide evidence that management adopted practices that contributed to a populist view of behaviour akin to the robber baron image. This added to social disruption
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Accounting in the context of war: The Portuguese case of the ‘Guerra do Ultramar’ (1961–1974) Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-02-07 Manuel Cunha, Delfina Gomes, Ana Caria, Carlos Menezes, João Leite Ribeiro
This study focuses on the period of the Portuguese Overseas War (1961–1974), with the aim of analysing the role of military accounting in Portugal, particularly regarding whether state budgetary procedures were adapted to meet the needs of the state and the military. The analysis was developed by considering the budget constraints faced at the time, which were profoundly influenced by the laws of public
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Editorial Accounting History Pub Date : 2022-02-07 Carolyn Cordery, Carolyn Fowler, Laura Maran
Welcome to the first issue of Accounting History for 2022. This February issue includes six full articles and two rejoinders - one to Steve Tom's Review of Accounting for Value, and the second to Cardao-Pito's commentary on Fair Value (FV) history. We also include the calls for papers for the 11th Accounting History International Conference being held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom during 7–9 September
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Cash and accrual: A dual system of accountability for salient stakeholders by the first Italian higher school of commerce Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-12-31 Marisa Agostini, Ugo Sostero
This study considers the accountability practices implemented in the first schools of commerce to effectively communicate with stakeholders. Specifically, it analyses the initial system of accountability implemented by the first Italian higher school of commerce in the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on the use of cash and accrual methods. The microhistorical analysis draws on accountability
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The hidden history of Benjamin Montgomery: Slave, manager, and accountant Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-12-22 Sandra Gates, Megan Burke, John Humphreys
Little is known about the contributions of African-American slaves in the histories of various business domains, including accounting. Some authors attribute this scholarly silence to ideological motives due to race-ethnicity and bigotry. Others note that this paucity reflects not only a lack of data but also an inability to adequately approach the contributions of minorities to the accounting profession
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Accounting for and accounts of death: Past, present and future possibilities Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-12-21 Lee Moerman, Sandra van der Laan
Despite being an inevitable consequence of living, accounting for and accounts of death are under-researched in the accounting history literature. In this article, we review this literature and find that only a few studies engage beyond a mere reference to death; and even fewer that attempt to account for or provide accounts of death. Those studies that attempt to provide an account fall into two broad
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Editorial Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Laura Maran, Carolyn Fowler, Carolyn Cordery
The November issue includes five research articles, the authors’ reply to Fülbier's commentary on Detzen and Hoffmann’s (2020) award-winning paper ‘Accountability and ideology: The case of a German university under the Nazi regime’, and the calls for papers for the Eleventh Accounting History International Conference (11AHIC) being held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom during 7–9 September 2022 and three
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Methodological reflections on historical case study and interpretive accounting research Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-10-27 Dominic Detzen, Sebastian Hoffmann
Commenting on our study “Accountability and ideology: The case of a German university under the Nazi regime", published in 2020 in Accounting History, Fülbier recently outlined a research agenda on the manifold ways in which the Nazi doctrine affected institutions of higher education, going beyond the scope of our original article. With this reply, we seek to reflect on research considerations emanating
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The centrality of ethical utterances within professional narratives Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-10-08 Dean Neu, Gregory D. Saxton, Jeffery Everett, Abu Rahaman
This study examines the centrality of ethics within editorials published in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants’ professional journal, CA Magazine, over the 1912 to 2010 period. Starting from the twin assumptions that editorials speak about appropriate professional behavior using a variety of words such as ‘ethics,’ ‘conduct,’ and ‘codes,’ and that appropriate professional behavior is situational
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Accounting as a social practice: US railroad regulation, value of service accounting, and regional economic development Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-10-05 Betul Acikgoz, Paul Miranti, Dan Palmon
Employing a methodological model proposed by Anthony G. Hopwood and refined by Peter Miller, which emphasizes the role of accounting as a social practice, this study examines how the US Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) accepted the application of the value of service accounting in rate-setting to facilitate the redistribution of income and wealth to the undeveloped economies of the South and West
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The Nuances of fair value history: A rejoinder to Cardao-Pito Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-09-22 Gabriel Donleavy
Cardao-Pito (2020) critically reviewed Donleavy’s (2019) article on the origins of the use of the word ‘fair’ in fair value accounting. This article is a rejoinder to the criticisms in that review.
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Internal controls, labour processes and work at the Isthmus Lockstation, Rideau Canal, 1832–1854: Discipline and governmentality at a distance Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-23 Merridee Bujaki, Bruce McConomy
The emergence of an internal control system to guide operations along the Rideau Canal beginning in 1832 is examined through analysis of a book of directives (the Order Book) maintained by the lockmaster at the Isthmus lockstation. The Orders guided the work of the lockmaster and established general controls and control activities. Orders for adequate documents and records, physical control over assets
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The emergence of double-entry bookkeeping in Tuscan firms of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-13 Angela Orlandi
This study considers developments that led to the introduction and diffusion of double-entry bookkeeping in Tuscany in the late-thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. We examine the evolution of the four basic account books (debtors and creditors, cash, merchandise and moveable property), which, together with the capital account, established the basis of the accounting method. We reconstruct the social
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Accounting and work relationships in an eighteenth-century Italian household Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-11 Gina Rossi
In elaborating on accounting and work, this study focuses on the distinctive arena of the household to uncover details regarding how relationships with paid subordinates were managed in the eighteenth century. To delve more deeply into the topic, this article focuses on the case of Silvia Rabatta, a widow in a noble family living in Friuli (Italy). Drawing on primary archival sources, this study shows
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Accounting and music: The role of Giuseppe Verdi in shaping the nineteenth-century culture industry Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-04 Federica Balluchi, Arianna Lazzini, Riccardo Torelli
The aim of this research is to investigate the contribution of Giuseppe Verdi and Casa Ricordi in shaping the nineteenth-century music culture industry by adopting a new perspective on accounting and history. In nineteenth-century Italy, opera represented an important phenomenon, both artistically and socially, playing a fundamental role of intermediary between society and the political sphere. The
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Digging deeper: German academics and universities under Nazi tyranny – A comment Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-04 Rolf Uwe Fülbier
In their interesting case study about Handelshochschule Leipzig under the Nazi regime, published 2020 in Accounting History, Detzen and Hoffmann focus on inaugural speeches and other material that emphasize the more formal and political perspective of the business school’s management. They identify an increasing political pressure and influence of Nazi ideology with impact on several accountability
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Editorial Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-04 Carolyn Cordery, Carolyn Fowler, Laura Maran
The August issue includes six full articles, a commentary on Detzen and Hoffmann’s (2020) award-winning paper (‘Accountability and ideology: The case of a German university under the Nazi regime’), and the calls for papers for the Eleventh Accounting History International Conference (11AHIC) being held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, during 7–9 September 2022 and three upcoming Special Issues: Accounting
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Overcoming a corporate crisis: The role of a hegemonic elite – The Banco Ambrosiano case (1982) Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-08-02 Carlo Bellavite Pellegrini, Andrea Lionzo, Alessandro Lai
This article explores how an elite was able to facilitate the recovery of one of the greatest European banks, the Banco Ambrosiano, from a corporate crisis which led it to bankruptcy. Drawing on Gramsci’s theory of ‘intellectual and moral leadership’ or ‘hegemony’, this study undertakes a critical analysis of the role played by an elite, mainly composed of public servants, in enabling financial and
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Accounting, greed, and beliefs in a nineteenth century communal religious society Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-07-30 Tonya K Flesher, Dale L Flesher
The availability of the accounting and other records of a religious communal society (the Harmony Society) provides for a study that adds to the literature on accounting in religious organizations, a need highlighted in Carmona and Ezzamel’s article in Accounting History that discusses: (1) the unique spiritual dimension of religious institutions and its impact on accounting, and (2) the ‘sacred/profane
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Fraud and incompetence: Accounting in the Papal States (1831–1859) Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-05-27 Valerio Antonelli, Stefano Coronella, Carolyn Cordery, Roberto Verona
The Papal States was a longstanding nation ruled by the Pope, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church. Its accountants included priests and laymen who were employed as bureaucrats. Despite an expectation that the finances would be carefully managed, this research from the mid-nineteenth century shows that incompetence and fraud dogged the Papal States’ latter years, contributing to it losing most of
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Accounting for hegemony. Fascist ideology and the shifting roles of accounting at the University of Ferrara and the Alla Scala Opera House (1922–1943) Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-05-26 Michele Bigoni
Accounting researchers have shown how accounting is implicated in the creation of power relations. Most studies assume a unidirectional relationship between the ideological beliefs of those in power and accounting practices. The study adopts Gramsci’s understanding of power relations to analyse how Italian Fascists enlisted accounting information to ensure that two important organisations, the University
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A thanatopolitical visualisation of accounting history: Giorgio Agamben and Nazi Germany Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-05-21 Erin Twyford
The extensive measures taken to destroy a people are facilitated by a complex matrix of interrelated actors and practices, yet there remains an underdeveloped implication of accounting in the wider moral and political imperatives. The purpose of this article is to introduce a thanatopolitical visualisation of accounting history adapted from the work of Giorgio Agamben and Michel Foucault. The theoretical
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Accounting for natural disasters from a historical perspective: A literature review and research agenda Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-05-17 Massimo Sargiacomo, Stefania Servalli, Serena Potito, Antonio D’Andreamatteo, Antonio Gitto
This study offers an analysis of published historical research on accounting for natural disasters. Drawing on the insights provided by an examination of 35 accounting/business/economic history and generalist journals, 11 articles have been selected and analysed. The analysis conducted on the scattered literature identified the emerging themes, disasters investigated, periods of time explored and main
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Editorial Accounting History Pub Date : 2021-05-17 Carolyn Cordery, Carolyn Fowler, Laura Maran
The May issue includes seven articles, it also contains a vale to Basil S. Yamey by Christopher Napier and announcements of both the eleventh Accounting History International Conference (11AHIC), which will be held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, during 7–9 September 2022, and the 2020 Robert Gibson Award winners. Congratulations to Dominic Detzen and Sebastian Hoffmann. There are two calls for papers