IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aosoci/v34y2009i5p551-570.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Merchants' accounts, performance assessment and decision making in mercantilist Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Edwards, John Richard
  • Dean, Graeme
  • Clarke, Frank

Abstract

The part played by double entry bookkeeping (DEB) in the rise of capitalism in Western Europe has been the subject of academic attention and debate for more than a century [Miller, P., & Napier, C. (1993). Genealogies of calculation. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 18(7/8), 631-647]. Our interest in this topic was aroused by sources of relevant comment concerning early uses of DEB identified in Chambers' An Accounting Thesaurus (1995). In this paper these sources, augmented by a systematic search of surviving treatises on DEB published in Britain between 1547 and 1799, comprise extended evidence that enable us to make "justified statements" [Napier, C. J. (2002). The historian as auditor: Facts, judgments and evidence. Accounting Historians Journal, 29(2), 131-155] in support of the notion that writers encouraged a "capitalist mentality" [Bryer, R. A. (2000a). The history of accounting and the transition to capitalism in England. Part one: Theory. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(2), 131-162; Bryer, R. A. (2000b). The history of accounting and the transition to capitalism in England. Part two: Evidence. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(4/5), 327-381] among the rising merchant class. They did this by communicating to merchants the potential of DEB for presenting economic events in a financial form that enabled them to evaluate the amount and profitability of their business investments and provided data on which to base decisions designed to enhance the "Value and Condition of his Estate" (Stephens, 1735, p. 4). Further, based on the known occupations of these writers and drawing on knowledge of the operation of an international trading enterprise, the Hudson's Bay Company, we speculate that DEB might have played a part in helping owners manage their affairs during the major economic and social developments that are known to have occurred in Britain and Western Society more generally between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwards, John Richard & Dean, Graeme & Clarke, Frank, 2009. "Merchants' accounts, performance assessment and decision making in mercantilist Britain," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 551-570, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:34:y:2009:i:5:p:551-570
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361-3682(08)00071-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lane, Frederic C., 1944. "Family Partnerships and Joint Ventures in the Venetian Republic1," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 178-196, November.
    2. Warwick Funnell, 2001. "Distortions of History, Accounting and the Paradox of Werner Sombart," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 37(1), pages 55-78, February.
    3. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    4. Bryer, R. A., 2000. "The history of accounting and the transition to capitalism in England. Part one: theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 131-162, February.
    5. Lane, Frederic C., 1945. "Venture Accounting in Medieval Business Management," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 164-173, November.
    6. Carlos, Ann M. & Nicholas, Stephen, 1988. "“Giants of an Earlier Capitalism”: The Chartered Trading Companies as Modern Multinationals," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(3), pages 398-419, October.
    7. Carlos, Ann M. & Nicholas, Stephen, 1990. "Agency Problems in Early Chartered Companies: The Case of the Hudson’s Bay Company," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 853-875, December.
    8. Carlos, Ann M & Nicholas, Stephen, 1993. "Managing the Manager: An Application of the Principal Agent Model to the Hudson's Bay Company," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(2), pages 243-256, April.
    9. B. S. Yamey, 2005. "The historical significance of double-entry bookkeeping: Some non-Sombartian claims," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 77-88.
    10. Toms, J.S., 2010. "Calculating profit: A historical perspective on the development of capitalism," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 205-221, February.
    11. Eve Chiapello, 2007. "Accounting and the birth of the notion of capitalism," Post-Print hal-00466515, HAL.
    12. Yamey, Bs, 1964. "Accounting And The Rise Of Capitalism - Further Notes On A Theme By Sombart," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(2), pages 117-136.
    13. Basil Yamey, 2000. "The 'particular gain or loss upon each article we deal in': an aspect of mercantile accounting, 1300-1800," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12.
    14. Bryer, R. A., 2000. "The history of accounting and the transition to capitalism in England. Part two: evidence," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(4-5), pages 327-381, May.
    15. Walker, S. P., 1998. "How to secure your husband's esteem. Accounting and private patriarchy in the British middle class household during the nineteenth century," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 485-514.
    16. Miller, Peter & Napier, Christopher, 1993. "Genealogies of calculation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(7-8), pages 631-647.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Corrado Cuccurullo & Massimo Aria & Fabrizia Sarto, 2016. "Foundations and trends in performance management. A twenty-five years bibliometric analysis in business and public administration domains," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 595-611, August.
    2. S. Mc_W Cheryl & Yannick Lemarchand, 2010. "Accounting as story telling," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(1), pages 14-54, January.
    3. Graeme Dean & Frank Clarke, 2012. "When History is Ignored, Business Black Swans and the Use and Abuse of a Notion," Chapters, in: Mohamed Ariff & John H. Farrar & Ahmed M. Khalid (ed.), Regulatory Failure and the Global Financial Crisis, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Ken Peasnell & Graeme Dean & Günther Gebhardt, 2009. "Reflections on the Revision of the IASB Framework by EAA Academics," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 45(4), pages 518-527, December.
    5. Hoskin, Keith & Macve, Richard, 2012. "Contesting the indigenous development of “Chinese double-entry bookkeeping” and its significance in China’s economic institutions and business organization before c.1850," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42583, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Graeme Dean & Frank Clarke & Francesco Capalbo, 2016. "Response to Toms and Bryer," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 41-43, March.
    7. Janni Grouleff Nielsen & Rainer Lueg & Dennis van Liempd, 2019. "Managing Multiple Logics: The Role of Performance Measurement Systems in Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, April.
    8. Mohamed Ariff & John H. Farrar & Ahmed M. Khalid (ed.), 2012. "Regulatory Failure and the Global Financial Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14510.
    9. Gervais, Pierre, 2014. "Early modern merchant strategies and the historicization of market practices," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 15(3), pages 19-29.
    10. Arnold, A.J., 2015. "Accounting's representation of industrial expansion and decline: Some evidence from practice at Vickers Shipbuilding, 1910–24," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 191-203.
    11. Marisleidy Alba Cabañas, 2018. "Tendencias organizacionales y contables contemporáneas," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Contaduría Pública, number 08.
    12. Jens Wüstemann & Sonja Wüstemann, 2010. "Why Consistency of Accounting Standards Matters: A Contribution to the Rules‐Versus‐Principles Debate in Financial Reporting," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 46(1), pages 1-27, March.
    13. Edwards, John Richard, 2016. "Asset valuation, profit measurement and path dependence in Britain to 1800," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 87-101.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohamed Ali Dakkam, 2018. "qui et à quoi sert la comptabilité ? Un état de l'art et quelques réflexions théoriques pour dépasser le déterminisme des différents paradigmes," Post-Print hal-01907865, HAL.
    2. Warwick Funnell & Jeffrey Robertson, 2011. "Capitalist accounting in sixteenth century Holland," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(5), pages 560-586, June.
    3. Richard, Jacques, 2015. "The dangerous dynamics of modern capitalism (from static to IFRS’ futuristic accounting)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 9-34.
    4. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    5. Carnegie, Garry D. & McBride, Karen M. & Napier, Christopher J. & Parker, Lee D., 2020. "Accounting history and theorising about organisations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    6. Robertson, Jeffrey & Funnell, Warwick, 2012. "The Dutch East-India Company and accounting for social capital at the dawn of modern capitalism 1602–1623," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 342-360.
    7. Yannick Lemarchand & Laure Pineau-Defois & Cheryl Mcwatters, 2011. "Comptes et récits de la maison Chaurand, retour sur les liens entre comptabilité et capitalisme," Post-Print hal-00650546, HAL.
    8. Jones, Michael John, 2010. "Accounting for the environment: Towards a theoretical perspective for environmental accounting and reporting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 123-138.
    9. Walker, Stephen P., 2016. "Revisiting the roles of accounting in society," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 41-50.
    10. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland, 2010. "Keeping Accounts By The Book: The Revelation(S) Of Accounting," Post-Print hal-00477759, HAL.
    11. Nadia Matringe, 2016. "Ratio Pecuniam Parit Accounting and the making of financial markets in the Early Modern Age," Working Papers hal-01358129, HAL.
    12. 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.
    13. Nhu Tuyên Le, 2009. "Liens Entre Comptabilite Et Systeme Economique : La Transition Vietnamienne," Post-Print halshs-00460227, HAL.
    14. Jones, Michael John, 2010. "Sources of power and infrastructural conditions in medieval governmental accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 81-94, January.
    15. Lamb, Margaret, 2001. "'Horrid appealing': accounting for taxable profits in mid-nineteenth century England," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 271-298, April.
    16. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2017. "ÔRationalÕ Farmers and the Emergence of Modern Accounting in Danish Dairying," Working Papers 0115, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    17. A. J. ARNOLD & S. McCARTNEY, 2011. "‘Veritable gold mines before the arrival of railway competition’: but did dividends signal rates of return in the English canal industry?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(1), pages 214-236, February.
    18. Andrew, Jane & Baker, Max & Cooper, Christine & Tweedie, Jonathan, 2024. "Wealth taxes and the post-COVID future of the state," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. Haynes, Kathryn, 2017. "Accounting as gendering and gendered: A review of 25 years of critical accounting research on gender," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 110-124.
    20. Bryer, Alice Rose, 2014. "Conscious practices and purposive action: A qualitative study of accounting and social change," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 93-103.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:34:y:2009:i:5:p:551-570. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aos .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.