Accounts from the backwoods: The role of accounting in an early Upper Canada settlement

Abstract

The founding of the town of Guelph, Ontario, was uncommon in that the town was established prior to the development of surrounding agricultural lands. This was done through an arrangement between the British government and a private, for-profit company. Grounded in agency theory, this study examines the establishment of the town and the role of accounting in its early development. The results show how the absence of accounting created a space in which the company's agent could operate in a way that promoted the well-being of the local population while adopting a long-term approach to shareholder wealth creation. This study highlights the insights that can be gained by investigating where accounting is absent and the importance of aligning accounting techniques with organisational and social objectives, particularly in the context of private companies acting on behalf of governments.

A multi-period analysis of a water management arena in the Italian Alps, circa 1951–2007: The territorialisation of environmental concerns

“…From a methodological perspective, we have added to interdisciplinary studies on ‘territorialisation’ (Miller and Power, 2013) and ‘visibility’ (Foucault, 1977), such as Cohen and Bakker (2014), McCall (2016), Baker (2022), Georgakopoulos (2018), and Georgakopoulos and Thomson (2008), by clarifying the roles of stakeholders, accountabilities and accounts as architectural elements of power in a water management arena. Moreover, we extended the concept of ‘accounts’ in accounting history, following Bisman's (2009) call, by showing how non-accounting documents or visual artefacts can shape ‘calculable spaces’ when used to discharge accountability in the arena.…”

“…The interactions among actors are another feature of the arena concept. Given the difficulty to reconstruct the full extent of interactions among actors, most studies (Baker, 2022; Georgakopoulos, 2018; Georgakopoulos and Thomson, 2008; Sandu et al, 2022; Scobie, 2015; Scobie et al, 2016) frame them in terms of accountabilities, and study them through the accounts used to discharge such accountabilities.The notion of ‘accounts’ includes reports on electricity production, financial reports, environmental reports, media coverage and other technologies. Referring to the practices in Ancient Egypt, Ezzamel (1997: 563) identifies accounts as ‘quantification of input-output relationships… Measures … expressed in physical terms’ as both accounting and accountability systems.…”

“…Different definitions of accountability exist (such as in Busco et al, 2013;Gray and Jenkins, 1993;Gray and Jenkins, 2007;Mansfield, 1982;O'Dwyer and Unerman, 2007;Paul, 1991;Parker and Gould, 1999;Romzek, 2000;Samkin and Schneider, 2010;Unerman and O'Dwyer, 2007). In historical studies, Baker (2022) shapes the relationship between the British government and its agents in the Canadian colonies as a principal-agent accountability one; Barlev (2006) illustrates forms of accountability in ancient civilisations before analysing the specific accountability of a leader towards its population in the biblical texts. As a result, different systematisations of the concept exist.…”

“…We argue that becoming visible or being granted visibility (Foucault, 1977) is a highly contested game of power (Miller and Power, 2013), where calculative practices make ‘calculable and visible in a specific way what was previously incalculable’ (p. 580). In accounting history, Baker (2022: 4) observes that ‘The demand and supply of information is where we expect to find accounting. Finding accounting where it should be, however, does not always occur’ and ‘The lack of accounting where we might expect to find it in an accountability relationship’ may either signify trust between the accountor and the accountee or ‘may be viewed as constructive ambivalence where agents are required to adapt to changing or new environments’ (Baker, 2022: 4).…”

“…In accounting history, Baker (2022: 4) observes that ‘The demand and supply of information is where we expect to find accounting. Finding accounting where it should be, however, does not always occur’ and ‘The lack of accounting where we might expect to find it in an accountability relationship’ may either signify trust between the accountor and the accountee or ‘may be viewed as constructive ambivalence where agents are required to adapt to changing or new environments’ (Baker, 2022: 4).…”