Exploring the dimensions of the international accounting history community

Introduction

Accounting is a discipline that spans the globe and is an internationally recognized profession. International accounting is a term that is used to describe the global dimensions of accounting, including the harmonization of accounting standards around the world. Accounting scholars are also an international community, including component parts of this cohort, such as the international accounting history community, which seeks to provide insights into accounting's present and future through studies of its past (see for example Carnegie and Napier, 1996; Napier, 1989, 2001; Parker, 1999; Previts et al., 1990a). As an international community of scholars, accounting historians typically publish in a wide range of accounting journals, which may be broadly classified as specialist or generalist or are in the sociological, interpretative and critical traditions, and also in books and other research outlets. This study explores the present-day dimensions of this international community by examining the formal (that is, institutionalized) or identifiable informal (that is, non-institutionalized) arrangements for the study of accounting history. It is intended to augment understanding of the nature, size and dynamics of this growing group of scholars and to assist any future enquiries into the drivers of organizational success and the relative health of accounting history in the different jurisdictions.

A number of recent commentaries, such as Fleischman and Radcliffe (2005) and Guthrie and Parker (2006), tend to present a brief overview of the accounting history community by focusing attention on the Anglo-American dimensions of the community rather than the wider and, therefore, full international dimensions of the field. This study will deal with the anangements for accounting history in countries or regions where English is the first or official language and, importantly, where it is not. This elucidation of the breadth and depth of the accounting history community may also affect the way accounting history scholarship is treated within universities and in other institutions around the globe. Practitioners of historical research in accounting are sometimes, if not frequently, faced with comments reflecting a tendency for the international accounting history community to be seen as small, if not very small or tiny, even to the point where some accounting historians may themselves tend to underestimate the level of international interest in the field. An internationally recognized scholar remarked at a recent international conference that there are probably only 300 to 400 accounting historians around the world. While perceptions of smallness may be a regarded by some, if not many, as a virtue, such perceptions may also be accompanied by claims that small specialist groups of the genre are narrow or insignificant, or even quaint, as a result of their scale. The exploration and elucidation of the community's international dimensions may have implications for the ways in which accounting history research and publication are regarded and assessed within accounting departments and business facilities among other institutions across the globe. To the knowledge of the authors, no prior research of this genre has been published at the time of writing.

This study reports evidence on the current arrangements for accounting hisory in the following countries or regions (where the brackets show the names of he local accounting history associations or special interest groups):

* Australia and New Zealand (Accounting History Special Interest Group of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand);

* China (Accounting History Committee of the China Accounting Society);

* France;

* Italy (Societa Italiana di Storia della Ragineria);

* Japan (Accounting History Association, Japan);

* Portugal (Centra de Estudos de História da Contabilidade of APOTEC);

* Spain (Comisión de Historia de la Contabilidad of AECA);

* United Kingdom;

* United States of America (Academy of Accounting Historians).

In the case of France and the UK, accounting history is perceived to be arranged and nurtured on an informal or non-institutionalized basis. Based in the USA, the Academy of Accounting Historians is the largest association of accounting historians, which seeks to be international in its membership profile. Elsewhere around the world in many countries, such as Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the Netherlands and Turkey, small numbers of individuals with an interest in accounting history, while not regarded as informally arranged as discussed later, are generally active in pursuing their particular interests and related projects. In Turkey, for example, an enthusiastic group of accounting historians are planning and organizing the 12th World Congress of Accounting Historians (12WCAH), which is scheduled to be held in Istanbul in July 2008 (12WCAH, 2006). Appendix 1 provides details of the dates and locations of the earlier eleven world congresses of accounting historians held between 1970 and 2006 (Guvemli & Guvemli, 2006).

The remainder of this article is structured as follows. The next section considers the tendency for recent commentators on accounting history to focus upon accounting history in the English-speaking world. There follows a discussion of the nature, size and dynamics of the arrangements for accounting history in each of the countries or regions stated earlier, which is presented in alphabetical order as depicted earlier. An overview and discussion of the findings follows, including consideration of then potential implications for broadening perceptions of the international accounting history community and for the future international development of the field. Concluding comments are then presented.

Recent commentaries

Fleischman and Radcliffe (2005) and Guthrie and Parker (2006) have commented in recent times on the growth in the level of interest and participation in accounting history research and publication. Fleischman and Radcliffe (2005, p.61) refened to "The Roaring Nineties" in the title of their article as a reference "to the development in the accounting history literature during the 1990s','while sounding a cautionary note that the decade may mark the "quiet but discernible death of accounting history in the U.S." (Fleischman & Radcliffe, 2005, p.86) (see also Carnegie, 2006; Radcliffe, 2006). In acknowledging the growing number of accounting historians, Fleischman and Radcliffe (2005, p.61) added that "practitioners whose first language is other than English have been welcomed to the field in everincreasing numbers'.' Some, if not many, scholars of accounting history whose first language is not English may regard themselves as members of the world-wide accounting history community whether they are writing and presenting papers in the English language or not. Notwithstanding, the authors did not examine the arrangements for accounting history during the 1990s in countries or regions were English is not the first language, such as in China, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Spain (as per the list above). Instead, the focus of their attention was upon Englishlanguage journals and conferences (Fleischman & Radcliffe, 2005, p.62).

Guthrie and Parker (2006), in then editorial in Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal entitled "The coming out of accounting research specialisms',' placed particular emphasis on the development of the accounting community "as a specialist research grouping" (Guthrie & Parker, 2006, p.7). While their focus of attention was upon English-language journals and conferences in the field, brief mention was made of the activities of the informal accounting history community in France (Guthrie & Parker, 2006, p.8). In discussing the recent growth in accounting history practitioners, the authors acknowledged that, "the study of accounting history has attracted quite a strong representation of scholars in Japan and a number of European countries" (p.7). Notwithstanding, their aim was not to study the dimensions of this wider accounting history community as is the aim of this study. Rather, Guthrie and Parker (2006, p.5) expressed a view that accounting history scholars were, in general, "retreating from engagement with the broader and particularly interdisciplinary accounting research community'.'

Against the flow of exclusiveness of scholars working in languages other than English, whether such bias is intended or not, Hernandez-Esteve (1998) pointed out that English language accounting historians were taking advantage of the widespread use of English throughout the world while becoming seemingly nanower in perspective to their collective disadvantage. According to Hernandez-Esteve:

... this group [of accounting historians]... tends to turn in upon itself and only concern itself with problems that affect its linguistic territory which thus refer to the period of time when accounting themes take on importance in their respective countries. Generally speaking, the members of this group do not seem to be very interested in learning languages. Sheltered in their own environment, which is undoubtedly one of the extensive high-quality scientific production, they neither know nor mention works written in languages other than English and indeed behave as if the studies not written in their language either fail to exist or are not science. This surprises no one in their cultural environment and they are not called to account for their partial and limited conception of science. (Hernandez-Esteve, 1998, p.2)

In response to articles by Previts et al., (1990a,b), Robert H. Parker (1993, p.106) declared that the "world of accounting has never been monolingual'.' Parker emphasized the importance for English-language authors to cite general accounting histories, such as Melis (1950) and Vlaemminck (1956), which are published in languages other than English. Parker (1993, p. 107) also warned against overlooking or downplaying the important Italian contribution to accounting history, with particular reference to the iconography of Pacioli.

Such comments on narrowing the scope of accounting history have contributed to the authors' motivation for this study. The increasing importance of English in international publication in accounting is acknowledged. Nevertheless, greater respect for diversity is strongly encouraged with implications for the breadth and completeness of our appreciation of accounting's past internationally. Important English-language edited books on accounting history continue to heavily feature contributions by established authors drawn from the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Guidance on archival research methodology published in the English language tends to concentrate almost exclusively on locating and using archives in the UK and in the USA alone.

Adopting a truly inclusive approach in coming decades in representing and valuing the full dimensions of the international accounting history community is argued to be both apt and timely. It may also assist in reshaping mindsets for meeting recent challenges for wider diversity that have been put to the community's practitioners, such as those presented by Sy and Tinker (2005) and Annisette (2006, 2007), while recognizing the call for greater engagement by accounting historians across disciplines (Walker, 2005). Annisette (2006, p.400), for example, called upon accounting historians to move into the "truly unfamiliar" by looking "beyond the shores of Europe and the West and beyond our historic comfort zone of the mid-to-late nineteenth century to uncover the calculative practices used by non-capitalist, non-western human communities to manage social and economic life'.' Similarly, seeking greater diversity by studying accounting in "other places and in 'other eras' and by other peoples" is likely to contribute to the development of a literature on "comparative international accounting history" (CIAH) (Carnegie & Napier, 1996, pp.27-8, 2002) and also increase the prospects for accounting history research to be funded by external agencies (Carnegie & Napier, 2002, p.711; see also Carnegie, 2006).

As Carmona (2004) has shown, there is a lack of participation by scholars from non-Anglo-American institutions, as contributors in the leading, English language journals that publish accounting history research (see also Carnegie & Potter, 2000). Notwithstanding, focusing too much attention on the specific results of publication pattern studies of this genre could result in misunderstandings about the full dimensions of the international accounting history community. Indeed, many scholars who are conducting historical accounting research in their first language only, which is other than English, may be effectively classified as "invisible" and potentially ignored within the so-called international accounting history community. Notwithstanding, an Anglo-American institutional address does not, of course, mean that all authors found at those addresses regard themselves as Anglo-American. This study will hopefully assist in deterring any interpretations of this kind.

International arrangements for accounting history

This section contains an outline of the respective anangements in place for accounting history in specific countries or regions. In tracing and presenting information on the formation, development and activities of particular accounting history associations or special interest groups, it is intended to elucidate the nature, size and dynamics of the international accounting history community. All associations and groups addressed are, of course, primarily concerned with promoting and supporting research and publication in accounting history.

Australia and New Zealand

The Accounting History Special Interest Group (AHSIG) of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ), formerly the Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand (the Association), was formed in the early 1970s as the Accounting History Committee of the Association. It was the first special interest group of the Association and was formed in response to international attempts to establish national groups of accounting historians following the first International Symposium of Historians of Accounting (or what has become known as the first World Congress of Accounting Historians) that was held in Brussels in October 1970. The first formal meetings of this group took place in November 1973 (Goldberg, 1987, pp.207-8; Carnegie and Wolnizer, 1996, pp.ix).

The objects of the Accounting History Committee (as stated in Vol.1, No.1 of the Accounting History Newsletter, Winter 1980, p.l) are international in orientation and are reproduced as follows:

* To foster and promote research and teaching of Accounting History.

* To establish international channels of communication and to formulate an interflow of information between researchers in Australia, New Zealand and overseas.

* To disseminate among members information about Accounting History courses at graduate and undergraduate levels, both in Australasia and overseas.

* To provide a forum for analysis of ideas and interests in the field of Accounting History.

* To encourage the establishment of an archival collection of Accounting records.

* To compile a bibliography of archival sources in Australia and New Zealand.

At the time of writing, the membership of the AHSIG was around 45 individual members, all of whom were members of AFAANZ, while institutional membership of the SIG is not available.

The Accounting History Committee became the Accounting History section in 1985 and, by 1989, the group was known as the AHSIG. Between 1980 and 1988-9, the group published the Accounting History Newsletter. In all, 17 issues of this publication appeared (Gibson, 1988-9). In 1988, it was decided to move to a journal format and Accounting History was adopted as the title for the official publication of the AHSIG. Between 1989 and 1994, a total of 11 issues were published during this period, usually at the rate of two per year (Carnegie, 1994; Carnegie & Wolnizer, 1996). Accounting History was relaunched as an international refereed journal during 1995 when it was not published and, from 19%, a New Series of the journal appeared. The journal was published twice yearly between 1996 and 2003 and was published three times a year in 2004 and 2005. Since 2006 Accounting History has been published by SAGE Publications on a quarterly basis and appears in February, May, August and November (Williams & Wines, 2006). At the time of writing, the journal was based at the University of Ballarat.

Accounting History underpins a biennial international conference in accounting history, which is known as the Accounting History International Conference (AH1C) series. The inaugural conference in this series was held in Melbourne, Australia in August 1999 with sponsorship support provided by Deakin University (Carnegie, 1999). The 2AHIC moved to Osaka, Japan and was held there in August 2001 with Osaka City University as the event's sponsor (Okano, 2001). In September 2003, the 3.4MC was held in Siena, Italy in under the sponsorship of the University of Siena (Riccaboni, 2003). The 4AHIC sponsored by the University of Minho was held in Braga, Portugal in September 2005 (Rodrigues, 2006). In 2007, the AHIC conference moved to North America and was held in Banff, Canada, in August 2007 with the University of Saskatchewan as the host (5AH1C 2006). The conference theme was "accounting in other places, accounting by other peoples'.The AHIC now features a doctoral colloquium as a key component of the conference programme. The inaugural Accounting History Doctoral Colloquium (AHDC) was held in Siena as part of the 3.4MC while the 2AHDC and the 3AHDC were held in Braga and Banff respectively.

China

The Accounting History Committee (the Committee) is one of 10 committees of the China Accounting Society. In 1983, at a meeting held in Yan Tai, it was agreed to form an independent research group, to be known as the Accounting History Study Group, and the planning or embryonic stage commenced (for further information, see the China Accounting History Committee [CAHC, 2006] website). At the foundation meeting and inaugural academic conference of the Accounting History Study Group held later in Tian Jing in 1988, the research group became an integral part of the China Accounting Society (Lu & Aiken, 2003, p.2; see also Coffman et al., 1989, p.175). The Accounting History Study Group was renamed the Accounting History Committee at a meeting held in HeBei province in 1996. On foundation, the Accounting History Study Group had 36 members, while at the time of writing the Committee comprised 56 members (email correspondence from Hu Shengxiao to Garry Carnegie of 25 September 2006,26 October 2006 and 17 November 2006).1

The Committee conducts a number of regular activities. It holds a regular national conference in the Chinese language approximately once in every three years. At the time of writing a total of five conferences had been held since inception while a future conference was planned to be held in October 2007 The proceedings of these conferences are published in the Chinese language after the events (email correspondence from Hu Shengxiao to Garry Carnegie of 25 and 28 September 2006).

The Committee also contributes to studies on accounting history that mainly appear in volumes known as the Accounting History Study series. To date, two volumes have been published in this series while three other volumes are either forthcoming or in preparation. This series is published in the Chinese language and is listed as a national textbook by the Ministry of Education in China. The Committee does not publish a journal or newsletter (email correspondence from Hu Shengxiao to Garry Carnegie of 25 and 28 September 2006 and 17 November 2006).

France

In France, accounting historians of today are not represented by a specific accounting history association or special interest group and, accordingly, they gather together on an informal basis. This was not always the case as, in the mid-1970s, the National Institute of Accounting Historians was established and, in total, produced seven issues of its Bulletin between 1978 and 1982 (Parker et al, 1997, p.251). However, the more substantial steps towards the development of the accounting history community in France occurred around the late 1980s, with the establishment of the Groupe d'histoire de la Comptabilité (Accounting History Study Group) by a former president of the Ordre des Expert Comptables (Parker et al., 1997).This group was essentially composed of retired or semi-retired accountants and at the end of the 1990s, its activity declined considerably. In the meantime accounting research was securing a stronger profile in the University sector in France (email correspondence from Yannick Lemarchand to Lucia Lima Rodrigues of 5 May 2006).

While the present-day accounting history community is not represented by a specific association or special interest group, it is sometimes perceived as being a section of the Association Francophone de Comptabilité (see for example Guthrie & Parker, 2006, p.8) but there is no formal agreement or arrangement in place to support this perception (email correspondence from Yannick Lemarchand to Lucia Lima Rodrigues of 5 May 2006 and 23 September 2006). The active, yet informal community, including a number of prominent full professors of accounting, conducts annual workshops (joumées) as its key activity. The first Workshop on Accounting History took place in 1995 and was held at the University of Nantes (Lemarchand & Nikitin, 2005). This inaugural event was somewhat modelled on the Accounting, Business and Financial History (ABFH) annual conference, which has been held at Cardiff since 1989 (Parker et al., 1997, p.257; see also further discussion later on the UK). The three first workshops were denominated Joumées d' histoire de la Comptabilité and the fourth was designated Journées d'histoire de la Comptabilité et du Management (Workshops on Accounting and Management History). The decision to include "management" in the title was related to the notion that accounting "is not an isolated specialism, either in its teaching or within organizations" (Parker et al., 1997, p.252).

About one third of the papers that are presented at this annual workshop are by foreign researchers, which demonstrates that the series of workshops is not a mere local activity but has an international orientation (Lemarchand & Nikitin, 2005, p.10). There is simultaneous translation (French-English) in the plenary sessions. Foreigners present their papers in the English language; therefore, two languages are used. Papers presented at these workshops have also served to underpin the preparation of special issues of ABFH (Parker et al., 1997). The articles appearing in the special issue published in 1997 have then origins in the first two journées held in 1995 and 1996 at Nantes and Tours respectively (Parker et al., 1997, p.252). Of the five papers included in the 2001 special issue of the ABFH, four were presented earlier at various previous joumées held in Nantes 1997; Poitiers 1998; Orléans 1999; Sceaux, Paris 2000 (Boyns & Nikitin, 2001, p.2).

Recognized as having been subject to the influence of the informal UK accounting history community (Lemarchand & Nikitin, 2005, p.10), the informal community of accounting and management historians in France now comprises approximately 30 individuals (email correspondence from Marc Nikitin to Lticia Lima Rodrigues of 30 September 2006). This number would appear to represent the number of active researchers in the field. Many doctoral theses in the field have been successfully defended since 1992, such as eight in all during the period December 1992 to June 2000 (Boyns & Nikitin, 2001, p.2). The French accounting and management history community or informal "French network" is an example of a small yet successful group where "everyone knows everyone" (email conespondence from Marc Nikitin to Lúcia Lima Rodrigues of 10 September 2006). The French network does not publish a journal or newsletter.

Italy

The inaugural assembly of the Società Italiana di Storia della Ragineria (SISR) or the Italian Society of Accounting History was held on 24 July 1987, where the members of the first board were elected (email correspondence from Stefania Servalli to Garry Carnegie of 29 September 2006). The idea to form the SISR was discussed and agreed on the occasion of the 4th World Congress of Accounting Historians that was held in Pisa in August 1984 (Article 1 of SISR Statute, SISR, 2006; see also SISR, 1999). The base of the SISR remains in the Faculty of Economics of the University of Pisa. The SISR "aims to promote, diffuse and develop historical studies in the field of business disciplines and particularly in accounting" (Article 2, SISR, 2006). In encouraging accounting history research and publication, the SISR publishes a refereed journal, organizes regular conferences and workshops in the Italian language as well as conducting international conferences and workshops from time to time.

One of the most important activities of the SISR is the publication of the refereed journal Contabilitd e Cultura Aziendale (Accounting and Business Culture) since 2001 (Rivista di Contabilitd e Cultura Aziendale, 2006). The journal is published twice a year by Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale (RIREA) which itself is a privately-published accounting journal that has, since its inception in 1901, featured contributions on accounting history as well as contributions on a wide variety of other topics. The articles published in Accounting and Business Culture are published in the Italian language, although the abstracts of articles appearing in the journal are available in English. Based on the English abstracts of the articles published in the journal to the time of writing, it seems that not all of the articles are on accounting history.

The SISR also conducts a biennial national Conference. The first conference in the series was held in 1991 in Siena while the most recent conference at the time of writing (VIII National Conference of the SISR) was held at the University of Teramo in 2005 with more than 300 delegates in attendance. The SISR has also been involved in the organization of international conferences and workshops, such as in Venice in April 1994 in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the publication of Luca Pacioli's Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proporcionalita and in Taormina in September 1998 on the theme "Evolution and Perspective of Accounting History in Different Countries'.' In collaboration with the University of Siena, the SISR has organized biennial Residential Workshops on Accounting History for graduate researchers on a continuous basis since 1996.

The SISR, in total, has four categories of membership, comprising Honorary, Ordinary, Correspondent and Contributing members and also the Foreign Honorary membership category. The Ordinary membership is restricted to a maximum of 300. This membership limit may have been initially imposed in order to create the perception of exclusiveness that restricted membership of such a specialist organization may engender. In addition, individuals seeking to become a member of the SISR are to provide two letters of recommendation from existing members in order to be considered for membership. The use of such closure devices is the exception rather than the norm in the international accounting history community. Notwithstanding, members of the SISR may also belong to any number of generalist and specialist accounting associations. The total number of members in all membership categories, as at 30 September 2006, stood at approximately 250 individuals.

Japan

The Accounting History Association, Japan (AH AJ) was established in September 1981 with 81 foundation members. Previously, the Special Committee on Accounting History of the Japan Accounting Association was established during 1978-9, which marked the early beginnings of what was to become the separately constituted AHAJ. In April 2006, the association comprised 241 members comprising 230 ordinary members, nine honorary members and two supporting members (AHAJ, 2006; email correspondence from Michiyasu Nakajima, Joint secretary of the AHAJ, to Garry Carnegie of 6 May 2006).

The AHAJ marked its 25th anniversary in October 2006 at its 25th Annual Congress that was held at Komazawa University. The first Annual Congress of the Association was held in June 1982 at Nihon University by which time the membership of the AHAJ had grown to 177 members. The 25 annual congresses of the AHAJ have been held at 25 different Japanese universities, indicating the diversity of support around the country in hosting this key annual gathering, while all annual congresses held to date have been conducted in the Japanese language.

The prime objective of the AHAJ is to promote research on accounting history and, accordingly, the organization fosters research by admitting members who are engaged in the teaching of, or research in, accounting history. As part of its activities, the AHAJ publishes the Yearbook of Accounting History Association. Articles published in this annual review are subject to peer review and are published in the Japanese language. However, an English language summary of each article is provided in each issue. In 2006, Volume 24 of the Yearbook of Accounting History Association appeared. The AHAJ sponsored the 6th World Congress of Accounting Historians that was held in Kyoto in August 1992.

Portugal

Formed in 1996, the Centra de Estudos de Historia da Contabilidade (Accounting History Research Centre) is a section of the Associac, ao Portuguesa de Tecnicos de Contabilidade (APOTEC)2 (the Portuguese Association of Accountants) and is hereafter known as "the CentreVThe Centre comprises a maximum number of 24 members only and consists of a Scientific Board of 12 members and an Executive Board also comprising 12 members. Membership of both boards is invited and confirmed by means of voting at General Assembly of APOTEC. Of these 24 officials at the time of writing, almost an equal number of academics and practitioners made up the total membership of the two boards. The number of Portuguese with an interest in accounting history research and publication, however, exceeds the combined membership of these two boards, thus providing evidence of the existence of an exclusive model to the organization of the field in Portugal, which appears to be restricting its full development, especially within the country's academic community. This scenario at the time of writing appears to be a key reason, among others, in the move by CSmara dos T6cnicos Oficiais de Contas (CTOC), Portugal's Chamber of Chartered Accountants,3 to establish a Commission of Accounting History based on its 2007 Plan of Activities (see for example CTOC, 2007).

The main object of the Centre is to promote the conduct of accounting history research and to disseminate the findings, especially in countries where Portuguese is spoken as the official or first language (APOTEC, 2006). APOTEC finances the Centre's activities, which include the conduct of periodic workshops, the publication of a bulletin, the presentation of an annual award and other activities. The Centre organizes, from time to time, Accounting History Workshops (Jornadas de Historia da Contabilidade).To date, three workshops have been held in 1998,2002 and in 2006. While most of the papers presented at these workshops are in the Portuguese language, presentation in other languages such as Spanish, French and English is permissible. The proceedings of these three workshops were published. In December 2002, APOTEC (via the Centre) and the European Institute of Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) organized an international workshop on the theme "Accounting and Management in Historical Perspectives" where 22 papers were presented, including three by Portuguese authors.

The Centre publishes a bulletin (Boletim do Centro de Estudos de Historia da APOTEC, hereafter referred to as the Bulletin) in the Portuguese language, which typically comprises approximately eight pages dedicated to accounting history topics and notices. This publication usually comprises biographical notes, short articles of various types including opinion pieces, reports on recent accounting history conferences or workshops and news about future accounting history events, such as calls for papers. The first Bulletin was published in June 1997 and appeared twice a year in 1998. Since 1999, the Bulletin has been issued quarterly. The Bulletin is inserted in the Jornal da Contabilidade (Journal of Accounting), which is the official monthly magazine of APOTEC and, therefore, is widely distributed. The Centre makes an annual award for the best work on Portuguese accounting history, which is intended to promote excellence in accounting history research. In addition, the Centre has reproduced out-of-print books by Portuguese accounting authors and also maintains a specialist library comprising approximately 400 accounting books and monographs, including many rare Portuguese volumes on accounting and commerce. Further information about the historical development of the Centre is found in Benavente Rodrigues (2006).

Spain

The Comisión de Historia de la Contabilidad (the Commission of Accounting History) is a section of the Asociacion Espanola de Contabilidad y Administracidn de Empresas (AECA)4 (the Spanish Association for Accounting and Management) and is hereafter known as "the Commission" (AECA, 2006a). The Commission was established in February 1992, and is co-sponsored by AECA and the Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Titulados Mercantiles y Empresariales de Madrid (Official Institute of Graduates in Commerce and Business Administration of Madrid)5 (Carmona, 2002).

The main purposes of the Commission are stated by Anon. (2006, pp. 183-4) as follows:

1. To encourage and spread the interest in Accounting History, as well as collaterally in Business and Management History in general, promoting the study and research into these matters, with special reference to those dealing with Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American items.

2. To spread news regarding Accounting History and accounting historians, as well as to serve as a means of contact, coordination and relation among them, facilitating their task through guidance, assessment and instrumental help.

3. To promote the publication and to publish directly or in collaboration with other institutions quality studies and investigations on accounting or business history carried out by its members or other people. In this aspect, reprinting and translating old works of great scientific value to put them at the disposal of Spanish researchers receive special appreciation.

4. To contribute, together with the institutions directly involved, to raise the consciousness of companies, institutions, professionals and public opinion in general with regard to the importance to preserve and duly keep account books, business documents and commercial archives. In this way, one will keep the sources of accounting and business history refened as well to the past times as to the future history of the present times.

One of the major activities of the Commission is the organization of regular Encuentros de Trabajo de Historia de la Contabilidad (Workshops on Accounting History). The inaugural workshop was held at the Autonomous University of Madrid in September 1992. The theme of the workshop was "On the elaboration of an Accounting History in Spain'.' The second workshop was held in Seville in September 1998, which explored schools of thought in accounting history research. The third workshop was held in Santo Domingo de Silos in June 2001, which focused attention on monastic and ecclesiastical accounting while the fourth workshop on the topic "Bank Accounting History" was held in December 2003 at the University Pablo de Olavide in Carmona. The most recent workshop on "Cervantes and the Royal Treasury" took place in Toledo in April 2005. The Commission has also participated in the organization of other meetings and conferences, such as a conference held in 1995 to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of Luca Pacioli's Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportion! et Proporcionalita. It also assists in organizing the parallel sessions on accounting history at the congresses of the AECA.

Since December 2004, the Commission has published the electronic refereed journal De Computis: Revista Espahola de Historia de la Contabilidad (Spanish Journal of Accounting History) (De Computis, 2006), which is freely available. Two issues are published per annum, which appear in June and December. Although the journal's main purpose is to serve as a vehicle for publishing works by Spanish accounting historians, the journal is intended to attract an international audience. To this end, articles are published in the Spanish language "and in other widely-used languages, such as English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese" (De Computis, 2006). At the time of writing four issues of the journal had been published. Of the 23 articles appearing in these issues, 11 were in the Spanish language while six were in English, four were in Italian and one article was published in German and another was published in French.

Since 19%, the Commission has presented an annual award to recognize the best work on the history of accounting written in an Iberian Peninsula language (that is, in Spanish or Portuguese). To date, all the recipients have been Spanish (Anon., 2006, pp.190-1). The Commission also reproduces old and rare books and publishes Spanish translations of important historical works. In addition, the Commission organized the 8th World Congress of Accounting Historians that was held in Madrid in July 2000 (AECA, 2006b).

In September 2006, the membership of the Commission totalled 105 individual members. The majority of members are academics at different Spanish universities. Most of the Commission's membership belong to departments of accounting and finance although some members are drawn from departments of economic history (Anon., 2006, p.193). Hernandez-Esteve (2006) provided an overview of the recent research in accounting history by Spanish researchers. Between 2001 and 2005,294 works in accounting history, including 17 doctoral dissertations, were published or presented publicly by a total of 126 authors, comprising 123 Spanish authors and three authors from other countries. Of these 294 contributions, 78 contributions or 27 per cent were written in English (Hernandez-Esteve, 2006, pp.9-10). In Spain, there exists a number of research centres in Accounting History that are formally organized, registered and supported by the Ministry of Science and Education. These research centres are located at several universities, including the University of Seville, the University Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla, the University de Burgos and the University of Lugo (email correspondence from Esteban Hernandez-Esteve to Lucia Lima Rodrigues of 11 October 2006).

United Kingdom

The accounting history community in the UK is cunently not represented by a specific association or special interest group of a general academic or other accounting association, although this was not always the case. Today, the accounting history community tends to congregate around the Routledge English language journal, Accounting, Business and Financial History (ABFH), which has been edited, since its inception in 1990, from the Cardiff Business School that forms part of the institution that is now known as Cardiff University (see for example Anderson, 2002). ABFH is the centrepiece of the Accounting and Business History Research Unit (ABHRU) at Cardiff University (ABHRU, 2006) and is published three times a year in March, July and November. A particular focal point for UK accounting historians is the ABFH Annual Conference, which has been held each year in Cardiff since 1989. This local annual event also attracts a number of scholars from countries outside the UK and, hence, has an international orientation. ABFH has also published a number of special issues, as mentioned earlier in the case of France, on the history of accounting in specific European countries.

Prior to the advent in the late 1980s of an accounting history community informally linked to ABFH and its annual conference, accounting history in the UK was formally represented by the, now-defunct Accounting History Society (the Society). The Society was formed in 1972 as the Accounting History Committee for England and Wales and became the Accounting History Society in 1974. As part of its activities, the Society produced a journal known as Accounting History. This publication first appeared in 1976 and initially flourished but in 1986 the last issue appeared due to a lack of papers being submitted for consideration for publication ("Editorial',' Vol.8. No.1-2, p.l; see also the Society's objects as reproduced on p.2 of this issue). Between 1976 and 1986, eight volumes of the journal appeared, the last of which (Vol.8, No.1-2) appeared in December 1986. Across time, there have been fleeting attempts to establish an accounting history special interest group within the British Accounting Association but nothing firm has emerged from any of those discussions (email conespondence from Steve Walker to Garry Carnegie of 1 September 2006). While the Society terminated as a local organization, the informal UK accounting history community of today appears to derive strength from the international links and connections of the constituents of the ABHRU in the Cardiff Business School.

United States of America

The Academy of Accounting Historians (AAH) was formed in 1973 and was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the State of Alabama and registered on 28 December 1973. Based in the USA where the majority of its membership has been located since inception, the AAH is the largest association of accounting historians, as mentioned earlier, and is the prime membership organization for accounting historians around the world. The concept of the AAH was stated to be as follows:

* To demonstrate the relevance of history to contemporary accounting.

* To encourage scholarly work and exchange of ideas among historians pursuing accounting subjects.

* To establish activities such as workshops and seminars to assist in developing and disseminating historical methodology.

* To promote the teaching of historical subject matter as a part of existing coursework and as part of unique historical curricula.

* To coordinate activities with international accounting history groups in European countries, Australia, India, and other countries.

* To emphasize the need for continued research in accounting history, both developmental history and thought history, by employing conceptual, quantitative, and experimental models (Coffman et al., 1989, p.158).

Since 1977, the AAH has published the Accounting Historians Journal (AHJ), the earliest specialist English language refereed journal of its kind, on a six-monthly basis. The predecessor of the journal, The Accounting Historian, was a quarterly newsletter that appeared from 1974 to 1976. The first issue of AHJ was numbered Volume 4, Number 1, in order to reflect the continuation of the AAH's commitment to publishing historical research on accounting since 1974 (Coffman et al., 1989, p.183, pp.193-5). Other activities of the AAH since its inception have included the publication of a working paper series and a monograph series, the awarding of the President's Hourglass Award and the publication of The Accounting Historians Notebook, which as an English language publication filled the void on ceasing the publication of The Accounting Historian.The AAH has also undertaken a key leadership role in working with other associations/groups of accounting historians based on other countries or regions to mount World Congress of Accounting Historians events (Coffman et al., 1989, pp.183-93, pp.195-203; see also Coffman et al., 1998). It has also mounted an annual research conference in North America.

Membership trends of the AAH since inception have moved from phases of solid growth to an era of membership stability through to membership decline within the past decade (see for example Coffman et al., 1989, p.179,1998, p.191). The composition of the AAH's membership as at 18 July 2006 is depicted in Table 1. The table shows that 195 (61 per cent) of the 320 individual AAH members as at that date were US based.

It is beyond the scope of this contribution to identify and examine the factors contributing to such recent trends; however, Fleischman and Radcliffe (2005) explore this topic, specifically in the context of the decline in support of, and interest in, accounting history research and publication within US accounting academe while, at the same time, interest in accounting history elsewhere, such as in Spain, Italy and Portugal, is increasing. In spite of this trend, the AAH remains an independent and active organization (AAH, 2006) that has played a key leadership role in the international development of accounting history since its formation in 1973. It continues to aim to develop its membership base in other parts of the world where accounting history is flourishing. Developing closer links and enhanced relations with the American Accounting Association (AAA) and ensuring that accounting history is a regular mainstream theme on the AAA annual conference programme may assist in improving the fortunes of the AAH at home.

Overview and discussion of findings

Based on the findings in relation to formal institutional arrangements, Table 2 provides a summary of the establishment dates of each present day accounting history association or special interest group as well as details of the current membership and a brief mention of the association's/group's key activities apart from, of course, promoting and supporting historical research in accounting. As the table shows, the earliest institutionalized communities of accounting historians, which continue to operate on this basis, arose in Australia and New Zealand and in the USA where each was formally established in 1973, following the inaugural World Congress of Accounting Historians held in 1970. Thirty-four years later, both groups reach out to the international community in different ways as outlined earlier.

The individual membership of these associations/special interest groups alone totals slightly in excess of 1,000, although some individuals would hold membership of more than one of these specific associations/groups. Members of the AAH, for instance, are drawn from the other countries, as indicated in Table 1, which shows that 125 individual AAH members were drawn from outside the USA, of which up to 100 may belong to at least one other association/group addressed. On the other hand, individuals with an interest in accounting history research and publication in these various countries may not have joined any accounting history association or special interest group, as a matter of personal choice, or may have rather recently resigned their membership for any number of reasons. For example, as indicated by Heraandez-Esteve (2006), a total of 123 Spanish authors prepared works on accounting history during the period 2001-5 while membership of the Commission, at the time of writing, totalled 105 as mentioned earlier.

In addition, Table 2 excludes many individuals with an interest in accounting history in the UK and in France and in many other countries, such as those mentioned earlier, whose names do not appear on the list. It is estimated that at least 300 individuals would comprise this category. Accordingly, the "membership" of the international accounting history community is likely to be at least 1,000 individuals, perhaps up to 1,200 in all, although it is acknowledged to be difficult to arrive at close estimates. Of this community, it is difficult to estimate how many of these individuals contribute to the literature on accounting's past in any language around the globe, including the English language. Based on the limited personal experience of the authors, it is speculated that the interest in accounting history of approximately 50 per cent of this group does not extend to publishing original contributions in any language on accounting's past.

While still a small international community, the worldwide interest in the field is both strong and growing. Table 2 indicates that more than 60 per cent of the community represented among the membership in excess of 1,000 is within the countries identified where English is not the official or first language. Notwithstanding, it remains important for the English language accounting history community to reach out and assist in a variety of ways, and to the extent possible, in the development of accounting history research and publication in countries where English is not the official language in a globalizing world where increasing importance is being placed on English within business and also in academe (see for example Riccaboni & Giovannoni, 2006, p.263). However, this general call should not be construed as acceptance of the view, as expressed by Hernandez-Esteve (1998, p.2), that "everyone seems to accept that English is, today, the only scientific language or the scientific language par excellence" Rather, strengthening connections between scholars from different parts of the world and from different cultural heritage backgrounds is only likely to assist in augmenting and diversifying the international accounting history community and its literature. The international conferences being held around the globe, hopefully, will assist in developing the accounting history communities in the countries where those conferences have been held, such as in France and Portugal in recent years, and contribute to developing research partnerships comprising scholars from different backgrounds.

Conclusion

This study has attempted to contribute to the literature by exploring the dimensions of the international accounting history community through an examination of the formal (that is institutionalized) or informal (that is non-institutionalized) arrangements for accounting history around the world. In so doing, it has sought to enhance an understanding of nature, size and dynamics of this expanding group of scholars and will hopefully assist any future enquiries on the drivers of organizational success and the relative health of accounting history in the various jurisdictions. The study has shown that solid interest in research and publication in accounting history exists in countries where English is not the official language. Scholars whose first language is English have much to contribute and learn by working more closely with scholars in the field of accounting history whose first language is not English, thereby seeking to overcome some of the limitations as identified in recent years by Hernandez-Esteve (1998), Parker (1993), Sy and Tinker (2005) and Annisette (2006). Wider collaboration and closer engagement between these two groups of scholars is likely to enhance a focus on accounting in "other places" and on accounting by "other peoples" as well as on accounting in "other eras" and also assist in the development of a literature on CIAH as mentioned earlier (Carnegie & Napier, 1996, pp.27-8,2002). Accounting historians, in general, are encouraged to move from their historical knowledge comfort zones and seek to augment our cross-national knowledge and understanding of accounting's past, as investigators, in countries and regions beyond the shores of their homeland.

While the international community is considered to be small, as this study confirms, it has also been shown to be active, if not dynamic, as primarily evidenced by the diversity of activities undertaken within the community, as outlined earlier, including the number and quality of the community's specialist refereed journals (see for example Beattie & Goodacre, 2006) and its spread of regular national and international congresses, conferences and workshops. New members from around the world are, of course, always welcome, including young or emerging scholars. Investigations of accounting's past around the globe will continue to provide insights into accounting's present and future as the discipline continues to broaden its reach and expand its influence during this calculative era.