Accounting and Conceptions of Control in the American Corporation1

Abstract

SUMMARYThis study examines three conceptions of how capitalist firms are organized and the relationship between accounting, organization, and control. The first conceptions is based on neoclassical economic theories, and its central premise is the efficacy of contracts. The second model emphasizes Marxian ideas of class conflict and exploitation. Its organizational premise rests on hierarchy and accumulation. The third concept is sociological. Its core assumption is that firms act to create ‘organizational fields’ which assure their continued survival. Each of these three perspectives relies on accounting as a means of control. The paper argues that there is an institutional connection between accounting and corporate control; the connection is demonstrated by the way in which accounting legitimizes control through objectivity, methodology, and professionalism. Regardless of how control is theoretically conceived, accounting is a crucial aspect of control within the modern economic organization.