29 research outputs found
Intergenerational equity in municipal accounting: New Zealand 1910s
Accounting for fixed assets by municipalities has been discussed in the accounting history literature previously. This paper addresses two issues related to accounting for fixed assets not previously discussed; the influence of the principle of intergenerational equity on local government accounting, and the influence of users of accounting information in accounting policy making in government accounting. The paper identifies that users of accounting information have had significant influence in a debate on government accounting policy, and that the principle of intergenerational equity was given a position of high importance in the debate, but not an unchallengeable position. The motivation of the users of accounting information to engage in the debates is identified as a form of civic duty, which is consistent with the ethical imperative in ensuring intergenerational equity
The construction of the efficient office: scientific management, accountability and the neo-liberal state
The office has been a central site of organizational planning, accountability, and control since the 19th century. Yet it has been the subject of relatively little accounting research. Through the dual theoretical lenses of Foucaultian and Labour Process theories, this study employs historical photoâelicitation methodology to investigate the implementation of management control and accountability in the scientifically managed office which emerged in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Our analysis reveals the manner in which accounting records created new modes of disciplinary control and surveillance within the office and how accounting tasks were deâskilled in a gradually feminized and mechanized office environment. We also witness the role of accounting in the physical structuring of office space through the assembly line arrangement of office furniture to facilitate paper flows and the installation of recordâkeeping systems of surveillance. In addition, our visually derived historical account of these transformations in office administration allows us to reflect on some contemporary issues. The productionâline design and efficiency so promoted by scientific management served as a forerunner to today's openâplan office, as well as influencing contemporary office management philosophies such as ActivityâBased Working. Furthermore, we seek to inform current debates on the role of accounting in contemporary neoâliberal society. In the history of the scientific office, we gain an early glimpse of the subsequent role that accounting comes to play within a neoâliberal agenda as a powerful technology of microâmeasurement and microâmanagement