EVOLUTION OF THE NEW HISTORY OF ACCOUNTING: SYSTEMATIC, COMPARATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE ANALYSIS
Evolution of the New History of Accounting; New Accounting History; History of Accounting; Accounting evolution.
The New History of Accounting’s evolution reflects the ascendancy of the economic, political, social, organizational and cultural environment. From the industrial revolution until to the increase of the functioning of entities through digital environment, Accounting had to adapt to the new organizational demands. In this sense, this study analyzed possible environmental factors that might have influence this evolution, applying the actor-network theory. From this understanding, parallel to the detached historical context, the New History of Accounting’s evolution was boosted mainly by political, economic and cultural forces. And, consequently, it had reflects on the accounting thinking through history until nowadays. The results pointed to an Accounting directed to an adaptation conducted by the interests and needs of influential agents, at important moments in world history. This study highlights possible biases carry on the New History of Accounting in which influential factors might or not have proved beneficial to society and organizations. Despite the term New History of Accounting, this expression denotes much more an adaptability to the natural demands of organizations in continuous growth, that are following the evolution of rupestrian economies, globalization and increasingly advanced technologies. Through this understanding, parallel to the historical context, there are indications that the evolution of the New History of Accounting was marked not only by overcoming a market limited by traditional borders and technologies to more modern ones, but also by influences from the economic, political, social and cultural environment. Anyhow, considering the convergence of accounting standards, and the strengthening of the IASB and the CPC, in fact, the changes in the New History of Accounting occurred from the development of the capital market. In this sense, it is perceived that there is still a long way to go, towards not only an evolution, but an advance in the way of operating of the New History of Accounting. Consequently, it also implies the perception of a necessary evolution both in theory and in accounting practice. For example, entities and organizations, through human action, have increasingly reinvented themselves to adapt to the impulse of the environment in which they operate. This adaptation is reflected and represented in their Accounting, which comes from the New History of Accounting's evolution. Therefore, considering the primary role of accounting in presenting relevant, reliable and improved information, this study demonstrated that looking to the past, with present and future perspectives, can indicate how the influences of economic, political, social and cultural environments will be reflected in accounting. This is because, previously, such influences had already had their effects absorbed by entities and organizations.