The Expansion of Modern Accounting as a Global and Institutional Practice

Abstract

A worldwide movement of theorization and professionalization of management has spread a variety of modern organizational systems, including personal training, decision-making, accounting, organizational behavior and strategy. This worldwide development promotes and expands notions of ‘organizational rationality’ while undercutting older communal forms of organizing. In this article I examine and explain this development, focusing on the area of accounting. The core argument is that an accountability model, particularly evident in corporate accounting, has triumphed at both the global and national governance levels. Much of the literature on globalization views this triumph as a technical achievement brought about by economic processes. Following a broader sociological perspective, I view the expansion of accounting as an institutional process reflecting world models of organizational rationality. This article examines these global trends and analyzes cross-national variations in the proliferation of the accountability model.