Accounting as an instrument of power: The case of an Italian hospital in the late nineteenth century

Abstract

During the past few years, scholars have investigated accounting practices from different perspectives and in different contexts; however, the topics of accounting and fraud-corruption appear to be underresearched areas in accounting history literature. This article examines the case of Galliera Hospital of Genoa, established as Opera Pia De Ferrari Brignole Sale in 1877 by the Duchess Maria Brignole Sale. Currently, the Galliera Hospital is an important and specialised Italian hospital with 450 beds and almost 2,000 employees. Using the lens of Foucault’s governmentality and discipline power framework, this article explores how unforeseen events and misconduct can deeply change governance and control mechanisms, implying the adoption of empowered accounting practices. Thus, this article shows that accounting practices, when perceived as a real technology of government, allow the exercise of power. The study offers a relevant contribution to the extant accounting history literature by examining how accounting can be used as an instrument of power in the presence of misconduct.

Accounting and work in the charities: The case of an Italian institution in the nineteenth century

“…Funnell et al (2019) also look at the role of accounting in not-for-profit organisations as a support for political and social legitimation. This role is also illustrated by Lazzini and Nicoliello (2021) in the exercise of government power in an Italian hospital. They explain the consequences of a misconduct that led to the introduction of a structured system of accounting and control as a form of power and knowledge, in addition to explaining the role of this system in the exercise of power by government in charities.…”

A study of Michelangelo's David from an accountability perspective: Antecedents of dialogic accounting in the early Florentine Renaissance

“…According to Munslow (2007), a rational, independent and impartial investigation of historical documents is one of the most valuable aspects of a historian's work. Document analysis entails that data are examined and interpreted to elicit meaning, provide understanding and develop empirical knowledge (Bowen, 2009;Corbin and Strauss, 2008;Lazzini and Nicoliello, 2021;Rapley, 2007). Thus, our thematic archival analysis followed the approach that accounting scholars label 'contextual' (Hopwood, 1987;Napier, 1989).…”

“…Document analysis entails that data are examined and interpreted to elicit meaning, provide understanding and develop empirical knowledge (Bowen, 2009; Corbin and Strauss, 2008; Lazzini and Nicoliello, 2021; Rapley, 2007). Thus, our thematic archival analysis followed the approach that accounting scholars label ‘contextual’ (Hopwood, 1987; Napier, 1989).…”

Accounting and accountability practices in the obraje of San Ildefonso of Quito: An eighteenth century productive proto-capitalist model

“…This definition can be usefully applied to several different groups, including nations, armies, and social groups (Foucault, 1982). After the seventeenth century, a new governmental rationality became widespread, devoted to knowing and governing wealth, health, and happiness of individuals, groups, and whole populations (Rose and Miller, 1992;Lazzini and Nicoliello, 2020). Governmentality became the tool used to secure and improve economic performances in a society with a resultant increasingly economic rationality (Burchell, 1993).…”