Accounting is an Evolved Economic Institution summarizes accounting history over the past ten thousand years and can be used as a primer of accounting history.

We consider accounting from an evolutionary perspective. Accounting encompasses the creation of transactional records, the summarization of records in t-accounts, and the preparation of audited financial statements. Accounting's history spans at least 10,000 years dating back to the first human settlements in ancient Mesopotamia. Our focus is on the study of accounting history in three ways: providing useful thoughts experiments valuable to researchers interested in the development of modern practices, the use of historical data to test formal hypotheses about the origins of accounting practices, and the development of theories and related empirical evidence that explain accounting based on evolution and ecological rationality. Within this third area, we describe the basis for hypotheses and empirical analyses concerning six issues: (1) the emergence of recordkeeping, (2) the effect of double-entry bookkeeping on the scale and scope of economic organization, (3) the spontaneous emergence of norms of practice in accounting, (4) the impact of law, regulation, and taxation on accounting, (5) the demand for broad principles in evaluating accounting method choices, and (6) the relation between economic crises and major discontinuities in accounting practice.

This book explores certain contemporary problems of accounting through the eyes and pens of historians. Many accounting problems are not new ones and it is therefore important to understand their history and development through the ages. This book places twentieth century studies in context and provides clues to possible solutions. The focus of this book is on companies and their financial reports and will be of use to students of economic and business history who wish to provide themselves with an accounting background in relation to the financial reports of companies they may be studying.

This exciting new book from Geoffrey Hodgson is eagerly awaited by social scientists from many different backgrounds. This book charts the rise, fall and renewal of institutional economics in the critical, analytical and readable style that Hodgson's fans have come to know and love, and that a new generation of readers will surely come to appreciat

This volume explores how the limitations of human knowledge creates opportunities as well as problems in the modern economy.

This volume explores how the limitations of human knowledge creates opportunities as well as problems in the modern economy.

This book brings together works written by academics from all over the world on all aspects of business history: accounting history, management history, economic history, audit history, tax history, financial history, and professional history. Writing, transferring and archiving historical knowledge allows future generations to take lessons from the past and make more informed decisions regardless of whether it is in politics, society, or business. "Historization" can also be seen as the first step of institutionalization for private and governmental companies, institutions, professionals, and states. Institutionally managed historical activities, decisions, and results are accepted as a very important reference about the company for decision-makers and stakeholders. Additionally, "historization" is used in the development and promotion of professions. Historization of professions such as certified public accountants, external auditors, internal auditors, economists, tax experts, certified fraud examiners, and managers nationally and internationally has the potential to educate and motivate new entrants to such roles. As such, this book is a valuable read for business historians, professionals in the field, academics, and students of business.

Global in scope, accounting has had its share of great thinkers and practitioners, from Luca Pacioloi, the father of accounting, to R. J. Chambers, W. W. Cooper, Yuji Ijiri, Stephen A. Zeff and other figures. This encyclopedia presents more than 400 entries that focus on such subjects as publications in the field, institutional bodies, accounting and economic concepts, accounting issues, authors in accounting, records, leaders in the profession, accounting in various countries, financial court cases, accounting exams and historical researchers.

The question of how cooperation and social order can evolve from a Hobbesian state of nature of a “war of all against all” has always been at the core of social scientific inquiry. Social dilemmas are the main analytical paradigm used by social scientists to explain competition, cooperation, and conflict in human groups. The formal analysis of social dilemmas allows for identifying the conditions under which cooperation evolves or unravels. This knowledge informs the design of institutions that promote cooperative behavior. Yet to gain practical relevance in policymaking and institutional design, predictions derived from the analysis of social dilemmas must be put to an empirical test. The collection of articles in this book gives an overview of state-of-the-art research on social dilemmas, institutions, and the evolution of cooperation. It covers theoretical contributions and offers a broad range of examples on how theoretical insights can be empirically verified and applied to cooperation problems in everyday life. By bringing together a group of distinguished scholars, the book fills an important gap in sociological scholarship and addresses some of the most interesting questions of human sociality.

A view of accounting as a practical activity – a service function whose value depends on its adaptation to the environment in which it serves – is a good place to start this book, originally published in 1996. While arts such as music and drama can be said to serve human needs, their development presumably cannot be explained primarily by reference to the economic features of their environments. By contrast, an economic service function such as accounting develops in response to economic features of its environment. The objective of this book is to stimulate interest in explaining the development of specific features of accounting as we know it in the firms that are so important to the economies of Western industrialized countries by reference to the economic features of those firms. The emphasis in this work is on the influence of economic features of the firm in the development of accounting.