Abstract
The August issue includes seven articles, an announcement of the eleventh Accounting History International Conference (11AHIC), which is being held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, during 8–10 September 2021, and a call for papers for an upcoming Special Issue: Accounting History and Exploitation of the Natural World. Authors drawn from Brazil, Israel, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom have written the articles, and the issue continues the journal’s 25 years focus on diverse topics and diverse settings in accounting history research.
The first article considers the role of the ‘Big 4’ as regulatory intermediaries in harmonising the application of promulgations from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Focusing on a period from 1966 to 2014, Herman draws on documents, interviews held in 2009–2010 and other secondary data to show how the Big 4 have developed their intermediary role by interpreting, monitoring and enforcing accounting standards. These actions, augmented by their roles on standard-setting boards, increase the Big 4’s power, both politically and economically.
The contribution by Antonelli, Bigoni, Cafaro and D’Alessio investigates the development of the railway in the (Italian) Papal State, in particular the actions of the first regulatory body, which was established in 1856 and continued until the demise of the Papal State in 1870, when Rome and Lazio were annexed into a unified Italy. Foucault’s governmentality framework is used to analyse the regulator’s actions in this unusual setting where, rather than to stimulate business as occurred in liberal market economies, the Pope supported the railway development to exercise pastoral power and strengthen bonds with believers. This resulted in interventionist tactics where the regulator incentivised the railroad companies to seek efficiency to keep fares low and serve the public interest. In this environment, cost accounting, compulsory budgets and audit were essential.
Bartocci and Natalizi consider a similar period, but instead of the Papal States, they analyse the early years of the unification of Italy (~1853 to 1871). They utilise a Foucauldian lens to analyse the creation of the administrative apparatus in this new State and the relationship between accounting (and other financial management technologies) and the political rationalities, particularly its discourse. Bartocci and Natalizi argue that, instead of a linear, one-way relationship between political rationality and technology, the system included learning loops as Italy moved towards standardisation. The discourse and systems assisted in making Italy’s unity tangible, and some of the systems developed in the nineteenth century remain in place today.
Also undertaking a longitudinal study, but taking us away from Italy to Ireland, Moreno and Quinn interpret the patterns of change in the corporate communications of the Arthur Guinness & Son Ltd (Guinness) from 1948 to 1996. They adopt a neo-institutional history approach to their content analysis of the company’s Chairman’s Statement in order to show the impact of contextual factors over this 49-year period. Moreno and Quinn find that these communications portrayed a stable and successful company over time, which was assisted by the profitability of Guinness and the close involvement of family members in its governance.
Ding, McKinstry, Su and Kininmouth also utilise a Foucauldian perspective along with other perspectives to analyse the relationship between a Scottish manufacturer and its accountants over a period of 73 years until 1967. Through analysis of a comprehensive company archive that sheds light on the interactions between this unlisted company and its accountants, Ding et al. seek to compare and contrast the utility of different theoretical frameworks in viewing the rise of the accounting profession. In particular, they analyse the usefulness of (a) economic rationalism, (b) the building of jurisdiction and (c) Foucault’s arguments on the use of power in explaining the increasing work of a single accounting firm. They argue this approach could also be applied to analyse the rise of the accounting profession.
Taking a macro-level approach to the rise of the profession, Bicudo de Castro and Mihret investigate the three attempts made by the Brazilian accounting professional body to introduce an entry examination (with the last, in 2010, being successful). Utilising Actor Network Theory, they take a wider socioeconomic perspective, which includes the impact of Brazil’s decision to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Bicudo de Castro and Mihret draw on government hearings, various recording and interviews with key informants to develop an understanding of the professionalisation process in Brazil.
The final contribution from Patuelli and Carungu utilises the Comparative International Accounting History perspective to analyse publication patterns in accounting in relevant Italian and Spanish journals over the last 20 years (to 2014). They take a meso-level approach by comparing national cultures and research patterns through content analysis of 1,619 articles of which 15 Spanish articles have an accounting history focus and 26 Italian articles have an accounting history focus. They compare authorship and affiliation trends in both countries, as well as the empirical settings used by these published authors. Accounting history research is located amid a wide range of accounting research published in both countries.