The Birth of Industrial Accounting in France and Britain / Edition 1

by Trevor Boyns, John R. Edwards

Overview

First Published in 1998. The area examined in this book falls loosely under the category of 'accounting integration' where research should explain how the accounting systems in both countries are designed to integrate cost and financial accounting. The authors of this book had previously been working independently on the early development of accounting for industrial enterprises within their own countries. They claim that in order to understand modern day similarities and differences, it is necessary to understand how the current practices and systems have come into being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138879331
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Series:	Routledge New Works in Accounting History
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Trevor Boyns, John Richard Edwards, Marc Nikitin

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 Setting the scene 3

The usefulness of accounting history 3

Different approaches to accounting history 5

The role of comparative studies 7

The scope of the book 14

A few words of caution and explanation 18

Structure of the book/main findings 18

2 Economic development and the development of accounting 21

I The economic development of Britain and France, c.1700-c.1880 21

II Explaining differences in economic development 25

Mercantilism 27

Different factor endowments 38

From mercantilism to laissez-faire 39

Innovation and the social class system 40

The education system 46

Institutional factors 48

III Conclusion 57

3 The development of accounting literature prior to 1880 61

I The contribution of double entry bookkeeping 61

II The development of the accounting literature in Britain to 1880 68

III The development of the accounting literature in France to 1880 83

An overview 83

Key aspects of the doctrine of industrial accounting 95

3 IV. Conclusion 112

Appendix: Potted biographies of early British and French writers of accounting texts related to the development of industrial accounting 117

4 Developments in industrial accounting practice in Britain and France, c.1700-c.1880 123

I Accounting in industrial enterprises 124

II British accounting development, c. 1700-c.1880 126

The views of other historians 126

Early cost accounting developments in British industry 129

From mercantile to industrial accounting in the nineteenth century: the case of shipbuilding 134

Industrial accounting: costing within double entry bookkeeping 136

III Accounting developments in French industry c.1700-c.1880 151

General background 151

Industrial accounting: costing within double entry bookkeeping 153

IV Conclusion 168

5 Similarities and differences in accounting literature and practice: some tentative explanations 175

The emergence of industrial accounting in Britain and France: a summary 175

The methodological approach 178

Economic factors 178

The writing of texts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 187

The dissemination of accounting ideas 198

Conclusion 202

References 207

Index 225