Multiple Credit Cultures, Value Work, and the Construction of Professional Values : The Formation of the Accounting Integrity Concept in Early 20th Century Shanghai

Professional values are essential for professionals to gain social recognition and legitimacy. While existing studies have considered the role of cultural elements in constructing professional values, they have mostly focused on a single cultural element and overlooked the multiplicity of cultural elements in the broader society. Based on historical archival work on the development of accounting integrity in early 20th century Shanghai, this paper investigates the process and mechanisms of professional value construction in a multicultural environment. With the development of national capitalism, organizational innovation, and the reform of the accounting system, society was in transition from personal credit to material credit. Facing fragmented and diverse views of credibility, accountants selectively drew on cultural elements to construct their professional values. They engaged in anchoring, extending, and inheriting elements that were consistent with social public credibility to solidify accounting values, while also critically judging inconsistent elements to reinforce accounting values. Anchoring work identified "public" and "independence" as the core elements of accounting values to establish lasting professional values. Extending work combined intellectual trends and cultural ideals such as "accountancy saving the nation" and "political integrity" to strengthen anchoring work. Inheriting work drew on historical cultural elements such as sincerity, trust, and fairness to convey the central mission of the accounting profession using local language and narratives, facilitating audience recognition and acceptance. Judging work criticized the credibility view based on relationships and acquaintances in traditional culture and proposed the necessity to establish public credibility as a replacement. Accountants implemented these elements into collective practices to materialize professional values. As a result, accountants became gradually involved in economic and social life by providing third-party assurance and enhancing the public credibility of the broader society, which in turn made accountants an integral part of societal development. This study elucidates the links between professional values and the broader socio-cultural, political, and economic context, and advances our understanding of how to construct professional values by integrating diverse cultural elements.