French Accounting History: New Contributions illustrates the lively research activity in the field of accounting and management history in France, thus contributing to the dissemination of French research on an international scale. Based on a collection of diverse papers by French historians in this field which have been presented at various congresses, contributing authors give an overview of French accounting, the advent of the auditing profession and management control in France. This book aims to further strengthen the development of the community and knowledge base of accounting historians, not only in France but also internationally. This book is based on a special issue of the journal Accounting History Review.

This volume illustrates the research not only of French accountants (Colasse, Durand, Jouanique, Lemarchand, Nikitin, Richard, Tessier) but also the work of Belgian authors writing in French (Stevelinck, Haulotte) and of French non-accountants (de Swarte, Durdilly, Sauvy). The work of British and North American academics, writing in English on French accounting history is also illustrated from the 1930s (Howard, Edwards), through to the 1960s (Parker) and the more recent research of Standish, Fortin and Bhimani. The contributions to this volume have been arranged both chronologically and thematically as follows: the earliest business accounting records; the first French accounting authors; Colbert, Savbary and the Ordonnance de Commerce; the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; cost accounting; the national accounting plan; national income accounting; government accounting and accounting theory. An abstract of each contribution is given in both English and French.

In A History of National Accounting, Andre Vanoli focuses on the history of accounting in the second part of the 20th century. The book is about the relations between economic theories and the observation of the present and the past looked at from the viewpoint of economic measurement. Some parts of the book are especially devoted to the French experience in this field, but the point of view is deliberately universal. The publication is about; The birth of national accounting; The evolution of systems of accounts and accounting issues in the perspective of international harmonization; National accounts as a statistical synthesis; Concepts and their relations with economic theory; Uses and status of national accounting.

When originally published in 1994 this volume was the first international review of accounting theory to focus on the contributions of its leading thinkers. Very few attempts had been made, in the accounting literature, to assess the contribution of the theorists who have had such an important influence on the direction of research and practice. Written by experts the studies in this volume provide a unique guide to the development of accounting theory and practice in regions as diverse as the USA, Japan and Europe.

This collection of papers is based upon a symposium held in 1988 to provide an opportunity for academics and senior practitioners to discuss important areas of accounting as they and the law impinge upon each other. The papers have been updated to reflect changes up to the winter of 1990.