Abstract
The first issue of Volume 17 continues to reflect the international reach of Accounting History and features articles by authors located in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Two articles are centred on taxation issues which are of concern to professional and academic accountants alike given the interface of accounting and taxation across decades and centuries.
Bisman commemorates the fifteenth anniversary of the New Series of Accounting History in her examination of the articles published in the journal between 1996 and 2010. In a most comprehensive work, the author reviewed each article published during this period and identified publishing trends in presenting a portrait of the journal’s contribution to our knowledge of accounting’s past. The article is expected to assist accounting and other researchers in conveniently enhancing an appreciation of developments in the literature from the perspective of Accounting History and in identifying opportunities for further research.
Accounting innovation by means of the standardisation of graphical representations of managerial accounting information at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company during the 1920s is examined by Chandar, Collier and Miranti. Drawing heavily upon archival resources, the authors identify the benefits of this innovation as promoting operational efficiency, invigorating management accounting, reducing risk perceptions and extending the vision of top management. Moreover, this development is portrayed as a new form of organisational learning which assisted in shaping organisational culture by establishing norms for the accumulation, analysis and application of firm-specific information.
Halabi, Frost and Lightbody examine accounting’s past in the unusual setting of a sporting organisation, specifically an Australian Rules football club in suburban Melbourne. Using accounting information contained in annual reports, committee minute books and media commentaries during the period 1910 to 1917, the authors challenge long-held “myths” about the Carlton Football Club and broadly contribute to our understanding of Australian football history. It is hoped that this study may motivate further historical research around the globe on the interface of accounting and sport.
The financing of the American Civil War (1861-1865) is the focus of attention by Giroux. The author focuses on the advent of The Revenue Act of 1862 which established many new taxes and brought into existence the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in the Treasury Department. Taxation innovations under this Act included Federal income and inheritance taxes, while new administrative procedures were designed and adopted in collecting such taxes. The political strategies and financial battles of the Civil War period and the immediate post-war period are illuminated in this investigation.
Vosslamber examines the advent in New Zealand of The Land and Income Assessment Act of 1891. This Act introduced New Zealand’s first income tax and the principle of progression into the taxation system of the country. The author focuses attention on the 1891 Parliamentary Debates which broadly addressed taxation policy and, more specifically, provide evidence on a range of fundamental issues such as the legitimacy of taxation, the unit of assessment and the principle of progression. Also addressed are press commentaries of the time, which both reflected and informed public opinion.
The 2012 Accounting History Special Interest Group Manuscript Award is being sponsored by the School of Accountancy, Queensland University of Technology. The School’s support of this award in recognition of outstanding achievement in accounting history research and publication is gratefully appreciated.