Accounting by the First Public Company

The Pursuit of Supremacy

Warwick Funnell, Jeffrey Robertson

$90.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
08 June 2018

Economics; Financial accounting; Business strategy; Management of specific areas

Series: Routledge New Works in Accounting History

The United Dutch East India Company was the first public company, preceding the formation of the English East-India Company by over 40 years. Its fame as the first public company which heralded the transition from feudalism to modern capitalism and its remarkable financial success for nearly two centuries ensure its importance in the history of capitalism. Although a publicly owned, highly complex and diversified business, and commonly agreed to be the largest and most profitable business in the 17th century, throughout its existence the Dutch East-India Company never produced public accounts of its financial affairs which would have allowed investors to judge the performance of the Company. Its financial accounting, which changed little during its lifetime, was not designed as an aid to rational investment decision-making by communicating the Company’s financial performance but to be a means of promoting sound stewardship by senior management.

This study examines the contributions of accounting to the remarkable success of the Dutch East-India Company and the influences on these accounting practices. From the time that the German economic historian Werner Sombart proposed that accounting techniques, most especially double-entry bookkeeping, were critical to the development of modern capitalism and the public company, historians and accounting scholars have debated the extent and importance of these contributions. The Dutch East-India Company was a capitalistic enterprise that had a public, permanent capital and its principal objective was to continually increase profit by reinvesting its returns in the business. Rather than the organisation and management of the Dutch East-India Company reflecting the perceived benefits of a particular bookkeeping method, the supremacy that it achieved and maintained in a very hazardous business at a time of recurring conflict between European states was a consequence of the practicalities of 17th century business and The Netherlands’ unique, threatening natural environment which shaped its social and political institutions.

By: Warwick Funnell, Jeffrey Robertson
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9781138616769
ISBN 10: 1138616761
Series: Routledge New Works in Accounting History
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 08 June 2018
Audience: College/higher education , Primary , A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Timeline Figures Acknowledgements Preface 1. Introduction 2. Dutch Identity and the Influence of Landscape 3. Netherlands’ Trade and Commerce 4. Dutch Bookkeeping and the Hanseatic Influence 5. The Dutch East-India Company 6. Accounting for Capital 7. The VOC’s General Bookkeeping: Contradictions and Conflict 8. Conclusion Bibliography

Warwick Funnell is Professor of Accounting and Finance at Kent Business School, University of Kent, UK. He is co-author (along with R.E. Jupe and J. Anderson) of In Government We Trust: Market Failure and the Delusions of Privatisation (2009). Jeffrey Robertson is a Lecturer in the School of Accountancy at Massey University, New Zealand.