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The Impotence of Accountability: The Relationship Between Greater Transparency and Corporate Reform

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  • Vaughan S. Radcliffe
  • Crawford Spence
  • Mitchell Stein

Abstract

This paper explores the role of accounting in the attempted reform of the corporation during the “progressive era†in the United States. Focusing on the activities of three institutional bodies in the early twentieth century, the paper documents how their repeated recourse to “publicity,†which relied crucially on accounting technologies, failed to turn the corporation into an entity more sensitive to the public interest. Specifically, two interrelated contributions are made to existing literature on accounting and corporate governance. Firstly, the paper documents the early historical development of the now taken†for†granted phenomenon of accounting and adjudicating at the entity level (Miller and Power 2013). Secondly, the paper offers a rejoinder to present†day projects of corporate governance which identify better and enhanced accountability as key to the successful reform of the corporation. During the progressive era, accounting expanded and territorialized new spaces, bringing trusts out of a hitherto secretive, private realm and into the view of the public. Yet this was not enough to engender substantive corporate reform.Les auteurs s'interrogent sur le rôle de la comptabilité dans les velléités de réforme de l'entreprise de l’« ère progressiste » aux États†Unis. Ils s'intéressent plus particulièrement aux activités de trois organismes institutionnels au début du XXe siècle et documentent l’échec de leurs recours récurrents à la « publicité », reposant largement sur les technologies comptables, à faire de l'entreprise une entité plus sensible à l'intérêt public. Ils enrichissent les écrits existants sur la comptabilité et la gouvernance d'entreprise de deux manières connexes. En premier lieu, les auteurs documentent l'historique du développement du phénomène aujourd'hui tenu pour acquis de la prise de décision basée sur la comptabilité à l’échelle de l'entité (Miller et Power 2013). En second lieu, ils répliquent aux projets contemporains de gouvernance d'entreprise selon lesquels une reddition de comptes plus efficace et de meilleure qualité serait la clé du succès de la réforme de l'entreprise. Au cours de l’ère progressiste, la comptabilité a pris de l'expansion et investi de nouveaux lieux, sortant de l'hermétisme de leur fief les trusts jusque†là trop secrets pour les exposer à la vue du public, ce qui n'a néanmoins pas suffi à engendrer une profonde réforme de l'entreprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Vaughan S. Radcliffe & Crawford Spence & Mitchell Stein, 2017. "The Impotence of Accountability: The Relationship Between Greater Transparency and Corporate Reform," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(1), pages 622-657, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:34:y:2017:i:1:p:622-657
    DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12277
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    Cited by:

    1. Lisa Baudot & Zhongwei Huang & Dana Wallace, 2021. "Stakeholder Perceptions of Risk in Mandatory Corporate Responsibility Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 151-174, August.
    2. Boomsma, Roel & O'Dwyer, Brendan, 2019. "Constituting the governable NGO: The correlation between conduct and counter-conduct in the evolution of funder-NGO accountability relations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-20.
    3. Clinton Free & Vaughan S. Radcliffe & Crawford Spence & Mitchell J. Stein, 2020. "Auditing and the Development of the Modern State," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 485-513, March.
    4. Baudot, Lisa & Cooper, David J., 2022. "Regulatory mandates and responses to uncomfortable knowledge: The case of country-by-country reporting in the extractive sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Mohamed Toukabri & Maher Toukabri, 2023. "Football Industry Accounting as a Social and Organizational Practice: from the Implementation of the CSR Process to Integrated Reporting," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 36(5), pages 725-753, October.
    6. Jeacle, Ingrid & Carter, Chris, 2023. "Calorie accounting: The introduction of mandatory calorie labelling on menus in the UK food sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

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