Locating accounting in its national context: the case of Italy
Pages: 240
ISBN: 9788846439543
Edition: 1a edizione 2002
Publisher code: 365.194
Availability: Limitata
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The book aims to investigate some aspects of the evolution of accounting in a national context and to highlight the complex web of socio-economic relationships in which accounting is embedded. Italy is presented as an example of a country in which accounting has played a number of diverse roles, including ones that in comparative terms might have been unusual for their time. The work considers four detailed Italian case studies as a means of illustrating the interrelationships between accounting and its national environment.
A further aim of the book is to challenge some widely held beliefs which infuse conventional accounting studies. In particular, the work problematises:
??the notion that accounting and its related professional institutions have developed to serve purposes of economic control for capitalistic, profit-based companies (Ch. 3);
??the idea that accounting is a technical, self-enclosed body of knowledge ('accounting is just about accounting') (Ch. 4);
??the view that accounting is functional to economic growth and corporate success, and therefore its rules ought to be similar, if not identical, across national boundaries (Ch. 5);
??the assumption that accounting practice in continental European countries, such as Italy, is notably different from that in Anglo-American jurisdictions on the basis that international variety in accounting practice necessarily reflects diversity in socio-economic and cultural contexts (Ch. 6).
The episodes analysed illustrate that some of the traditional interpretations of the meaning and roles of accounting in context are indeed questionable when investigated with reference to Italy where features of the historical, institutional and socio-economic environment are quite distinct from those generally considered in the international literature (typically referring to Anglo-Saxon settings).
Stefano Zambon (MSc, LSE; PhD, London) is associate professor of business economics at the University of Ferrara. He has published extensively in the fields of international financial reporting, accounting history, and the measurement and disclosure of intangibles. He has held visit-ing positions at London Business School, ESCP and HEC of Paris, and the Universities of Boston, Melbourne, Metz, and Reading. He is a member of the executive committee of the European Accounting Association and of the editorial boards of European Accounting Review and International Journal of Accounting (associate editor) .
Why study Italian accounting?
(Introduction; Why Italy?; Objectives, contribution, and method of the research; Organisation of the book)
On studying accounting in its national environment: a literature review
(Introduction; Researching the social significance of accounting: conventional approaches; Relating accounting to its national environment; The symbolic power of accounting; Conclusion)
Setting the context for the modern concept of accounting expertise: audit, accountability, and the College of Rasonati in the Venetian republic (XIII-XVI century)
(Introduction; Audit bodies, technical posts and procedures in the Venetian republic; Audit and the political and institutional features of the Venetian republic; Delegation of powers, audit and the emergence of the accountability principle; The establishment of the Collegio dei resonati (1581); Conclusion; Appendix: The istitution of the Collegio dei Resonati by the Council of Ten and the Adjunct Members)
The unstable relationship between income measurement and theories of the firm: the case of the traditions of Italy and the USA
(Introduction; The theory of the firm and incime calculation in the Italian tradition of Economia Aziendale; An 'old' issue revisited: the US entity vs. proprietary debate; The 'anomaly' of co-operativesocieties as theory falsificatio; Discussion and conclusions; Appendix: A numerical exercise)
Accounting regulation in contemporary Italy: between international influences, innovations, and Gattopardo changes
(Introduction; The Italian regulatory framework for accounting; An Italian view of 'true and fair view'; Accounting and taxation; The Eighth Directive and the Italian audit; Conclusion; Appendix: Audit, audit figures and accounting professional qualifications in Italy)
International accounting harmonisation: some aspects of company reporting practices in Italy
(Introduction; The rise of 'alternative standards'; research data and method; Accounting attitudes of Italian companies to 'alternative' standards: an overview of the current situation; Measuring comparability of Italian accounting to Italian and US accounting rules; Qualitative differences between Italian accounting practices and US GAAP; Italian accounting practice vs. IASs; Concluding results of the empirical analysis and the statistical tests)
Concluding remarks
(Introduction; Why study Italy: implications and contribution).
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