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)

Impact of contact with business reality on academic performance in cost accounting

En los últimos años se observa cada vez mayor falta de motivación y menor rendimiento en los estudiantes de Contabilidad de Costes (CC). Con este trabajo se propone adaptar la metodología docente aplicada en el aula a los estilos de aprendizaje de los alumnos. Este estudio comprende dos cursos académicos (2018/2019 y 2019/2020), diferenciados en dos fases. En la primera, se lleva a cabo la revisión de la literatura, así como el análisis de los estilos de aprendizaje de los alumnos de CC en el curso 2018/2019. Los resultados obtenidos nos indican el tipo de metodología docente a introducir, que en este caso consiste en la realización de tres actividades con el propósito de acercar a los alumnos a la realidad empresarial de forma conexa al avance en los contenidos del programa de la asignatura. En la segunda fase, se analiza si las calificaciones medias de los estudiantes de CC del curso 2019/2020 tras la realización de estas actividades (grupo experimental) son mejores respecto a los alumnos que no las realizaron (grupo de control). Los resultados obtenidos no evidencian que el rendimiento de los alumnos del grupo experimental sea mejor que el del grupo de control, afirmación extensible al caso de los alumnos con preferencia de aprendizaje kinestésico.In recent years, there has been an increasing lack of motivation and lower performance in Cost Accounting students (CC). With this work it is proposed to adapt the teaching methodology applied in the classroom to the learning styles of the students. This study comprises two academic years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020), differentiated into two phases. In the first, the literature review is carried out, as well as the analysis of the learning styles of CC students in the 2018/2019 academic year. The results obtained indicate the type of teaching methodology to be introduced. This methodology consisted of carrying out three activities related to business reality and related to progress in the contents of the subject's program. The second phase, it is analyzed whether the average grades of the CC students in the 2019/2020 academic year after carrying out these activities (experimental group) are better compared to the students who did not carry them out (control group). The results obtained do not show that the performance of the students in the experimental group is better than that of the control group, a statement that can be extended to the case of students with kinesthetic learning preference.Universidad Autónoma de Madrid CEE_002.19_IN