The aim of this article is to explore the role played by accounting in the building of the early modern Papal States. In particular, the study shows how the control and accountability system set up by the Pro commissa Bull (15 August 1592) allowed the Pope to concentrate and centralize political power, fostering the shift of the Papal States towards the configuration of an absolute state which can be considered the first major institutional embodiment of the modern state in the early modern period. Besides contributing to the literature on accounting and state building, this research also provides insights into the role of accounting in religious institutions. The analysis, in fact, is carried out in one of the most important religious institutions in history. Moreover, the fact that the Pope was both the political and the religious head of the Papal States allows the inference that this peculiar "dual role" could have affected the setting up of the abovementioned control and accountability system.

The study aims to verify whether and how ownership structure (with specific reference to ownership concentration and identity) affects Italian private (unlisted) companies' propensity to engage in practices of "earnings minimization" and "earnings change minimization". Companies that engage in these practices have been identified following the "earnings frequency distribution" approach suggested by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997). The influence of ownership structure, together with that of a set of control variables mainly aiming to control for tax, financial, and size incentives, is tested by logit analysis models. Ownership concentration does not have a statistically significant influence. Conversely, institutional, state, and foreign ownership has a statistically significant influence. In the first and third cases, the influence is negative, in the second case the influence is positive. The study extends the current knowledge on the relationship between aspects of corporate governance and earnings management practices in private companies, especially SMEs. It also expands what is known about the earnings management practices undertaken by companies in countries, like Italy, in which a code law system is in force and accounting and tax systems are closely aligned.

This study explores the earnings management practices of small-sized Italian companies. Adopting the earnings distribution approach, it finds that these companies are likely to manage their earnings to achieve two earnings level targets. On the one hand, they manage their earnings to report slightly positive earnings. Those with negative earnings manage them upward to be above the zero threshold. Those with positive earnings manage them downward to bring them close to zero. On the other hand, they manage their earnings to minimize earnings changes. The main implication of the findings of this study is that the small-sized Italian companies' earnings are not unconditionally informative regarding their performance. In other words, they are of poor quality. As a result, they should be interpreted with caution by those who use financial statement information. This study mainly enriches the literature on earnings management in two ways. Firstly, it provides evidence on small-sized companies' earnings management practices which are very little explored in literature. Secondly, it provides additional evidence on the earnings management practices undertaken in the Italian setting, and so in countries which are characterized by a code law system and a close alignment between accounting and tax systems.

No abstract

This study shows the way tax rules, rather than accounting ones, affect the measurement of receivables for the purpose of preparing the financial statements of Italian private (unlisted) companies according to national accounting standards. Through the distribution approach, it shows that Italian companies are likely to account for bad debt expense that corresponds to the maximum tax-deductible amount. Considering that the impact of tax rules on the preparation of the financial statements may affect the quality of earnings, the main implication of the findings of this study is that the earnings reported by Italian companies are not unconditionally informative regarding the company"s performance. In other words, they may be of poor quality. As a result, they should be interpreted with caution by those who use financial statement information.