Critical analysis of developments in Romanian accounting during the 20th century: a neo-institutional approach

Abstract

There is very little material in English language academic journals regarding accounting history in Romania. Most prior research has focused on a specific year or a short period of time without providing a theoretical explanation or interpretation. The goal of this article is to provide a longitudinal presentation of developments in Romanian accounting during the 20th century and to propose a neo-institutional explanation of this evolution. The study identifies a normative influence in Romanian accounting practices during the first 50 years of the 20th century, a coercive one, imposed until 1989, by a centralised communist system, and from 1989 to the present, a mixed isomorphism oriented around French, European and international accounting systems. Lacking a period of introspection, the authors feel that there is little hope that Romanian accounting will rediscover its unique culture, or will manage to build upon or improve its indigenous base in the current international context.