C. Howard Tripp and brewery management: the emergence of service sector management 1850–1914

1892 saw the publication of Brewery Management by C. Howard Tripp, the first book in the sector to address problems of management, as opposed to the technical problems of brewing.This article explores the growth of management knowledge in this sector, correcting the tendency to focus on manufacturing when exploring the roots of management. An examination of Tripp's account also indicates some of the barriers to the spread of management practices. The analysis, informed by institutionalist perspectives, suggests that we pay careful attention to the structural and cultural influences on management practices

Accounting quality in railway companies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the case of Spanish NORTE and MZA

Prior literature studying railway accounting during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries defends the thesis of lack of reliability of accounting figures. This prior research, which mainly studies the cases of the United Kingdom and the United States, offers mixed views on the causes, or simply accepts this thesis without providing conclusive evidence, as is the case of historical research in Spain. We provide novel evidence on the quality of railway accounting and contribute to this prior debate by (1) analysing the accounting for two material accruals: depreciation and prior period adjustments; (2) studying the persistence of earnings and its components, and (3) analysing how accrual accounting affects persistence. These analyses are conducted for the period 1856-1939 for the two major Spanish railway companies (MZA and NORTE). The reported evidence suggests that earnings are highly persistent. However, we show that there are significant differences across firms and that these differences are particularly obvious when analysing the adjustments for prior period earnings. Overall, our evidence does not support the thesis that accounting was underdeveloped, but rather, that managerial accounting choices lowered accounting quality.We acknowledge financial assistance from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion) (ECO2013-48328, ECO2016-77579). CAM (H2015/HUM-3353), the Catedra UAM-Auditores Madrid, Spanish Railway Foundation, and 6th ed. AECA Research Grants (2015-2016)

Brewing Wars of Attrition for Profit (and Concentration)

War of attrition, Profit, Advertising, Concentration dynamics, Brewing industry, L11, L66, M37,