The development of accounting in UK universities:an oral history

This article reports on the development of the accounting discipline in universities in England and Scotland from the 1960s. Drawing on the oral history narratives of six distinguished accounting scholars who played a significant role in the discipline, this article documents (1) the initial influences on the teaching of accounting in English universities, (2) the different influences on the teaching of accounting in Scottish universities and (3) the influence of US universities and their scholars on the development of academic accounting in the United Kingdom. With a focus on the second wave of accounting professoriate who followed the London School of Economics (LSE) ‘Triumvirate’ of William Baxter, Harold Edey and David Solomons, this article provides first-hand insights into the shape and spread of university accounting education at a crucial stage of its development. This, in turn, develops an understanding of the contemporary academic accounting discipline in the United Kingdom.PostprintPeer reviewe

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

Accounting is an instrument and an object in globalisation but its impact and manifestation is not uniform across Northern developed countries and Southern developing countries (DCs). This paper reviews contributions on globalisation and its influence on accounting in DCs, and identifies important research gaps. It examines the role of accounting in changing development policies, from state capitalism through neo-liberal market-based to good-governance policies. It then considers specific accounting issues, namely the diffusion of International Accounting Standards (now International Financial Reporting Standards) and how they promote global neo-liberalism; the development of the accounting profession in DCs in the face of competition from Northern global accounting firms and professional associations; accounting issues in state-owned organisations, and privatised and multinational corporations; government accounting reforms and the resurrection of the state in DCs; social and environmental accounting issues; and the rise of non-governmental organisations and their accounting and accountability. The discussion and conclusions reflect on achievements to date and important areas requiring further development

A Brief history of the various pathways to the accounting profession in Australia

The volume title of this issue is: 'Emerging Pathways for the Next Generation of Accountants'.11 page(s

Profession, race and empire: keeping the centre pure, 1921-1927

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the social construction of the racialised, colonial subaltern accountant in the British imperial centre in the early twentieth century.. Design/methodology/approach – Primary sources are used to provide an historical analysis of the British accountancy arena in the 1920s, this being the period when “race thinking” first became explicit. Secondary histories of race and empire are used to contextualise this analysis by highlighting: the growth of “race thinking” in the latter part of the nineteenth and the early decades of the twentieth centuries; and the American challenge to British imperial hegemony after the First World War. Findings – This paper tracks the struggles of British accountants in the imperial centre in the 1920s to find a path between racialist attitudes in the imperial centre, their own included and countervailing discourses of non-discrimination. For the Scottish chartered bodies, this involved the development of a de facto barrier to entry when a proposed de jure one aroused, surprisingly enough, the prospect of retaliation from American accountants. Research limitations/implications – Limitations in the primary sources preclude detailed examination of the attitudes of individuals or for all variations in the positions adopted by particular bodies. Practical implications – The troubling thing about the demise of explicit race talk by the end of the 1920s is that de facto barriers to the entry of the racialised, subordinated Other remained in place. Originality/value – This paper shows that the rise of race thinking in Britain did not leave British accountancy untouched; largely through the pressure it placed upon the identity of British accountants qua Britons and the consequential issue of inclusion/exclusion of non-Britons.Accountancy, Accounting history, Race

Good Government and the Prejudices of the People: the Case of the Philippine National Bank, 1916-1924

39 page(s