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Accounting for Fair Competition between Private and Public Sector Armaments Manufacturers in Victorian Britain

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  • John Richard Edwards

Abstract

type="main"> Failures in rifle supply during the Crimean War (1853–56) caused the British government to seek a more reliable method for procuring weapons for military use. Fact-finding missions to US rifle manufacturers led to the introduction of the ‘American system of manufacturing’ at a purpose-built factory in north London. The extension of gun-making facilities at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Lock, was accompanied by major accounting innovations driven by society's desire for ‘cheap and efficient’ government and, within a laissez-faire environment, the need to ensure fair competition between private and public suppliers of military goods. Accounting practices based on ‘strictly commercial principles’ were then disseminated to other government military manufacturing establishments located at the Woolwich Arsenal. The historical knowledge revealed in this paper adds a new dimension to existing accounting historiography, which focuses principally on the business sector as the driving force for accounting change in Britain.

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  • John Richard Edwards, 2015. "Accounting for Fair Competition between Private and Public Sector Armaments Manufacturers in Victorian Britain," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 51(3), pages 412-436, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:51:y:2015:i:3:p:412-436
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/abac.12055
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Edwards, John Richard & Coombs, Hugh M. & Greener, Hugh T., 2002. "British central government and "the mercantile system of double entry" bookkeeping: a study of ideological conflict," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 637-658, October.
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    4. Loft, Anne, 1986. "Towards a critical understanding of accounting: The case of cost accounting in the U.K., 1914-1925," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 137-169, March.
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    1. Jianzhong Xu & Song Zhang, 2020. "An Evaluation Study of the Capabilities of Civilian Manufacturing Enterprises Entering the Military Products Market under the Background of China’s Civil–Military Integration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Edwards, John Richard, 2018. "Towards constructing the governable worker in nineteenth-century Britain," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 36-55.

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