Credit and accounting in early modern Italy: the case of the Monte di Pietà in Bologna

Governance and accounting practices in hybrid organizations: Insights from a sixteenth-century charity in Venice

“…Historical research on charities remains limited, but it is increasing (Álvarez-Dardet Espejo et al, 2006;Moggi et al, 2016;Orelli et al, 2013;Servalli, 2013). This involves organizations that were partially religious, but independent from the ecclesiastic administration and private organizations somehow dependent from public administrations.…”

“…By focusing on charities, some studies have explored the role of accounting in different types of charitable institutions in the past. For example, Orelli et al (2013) studied the role of accounting and internal control practices in a credit institution in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, namely, the Monte di Pietà in Bologna, and showed how accounting played a central role in the management of this complex charity. Manetti et al (2017) documented the specific systems of accountability adopted in the fifteenth century by a charity organization, namely, the Confraternita della Misericordia , to ensure transparency in the management of offerings and donations for a plague emergency.…”

Accounting history and religion: A review of studies and a research agenda

“…Orelli, del Sordo and Fornasari (2013: 277) also report on pawnbroking, but, rather than Buddhism, their study examines the Franciscan friars’ Christian business which “attempted to supplant Jewish credit” through the Monti de Pietà . Due to a sensitivity to economic ethics (and previous outlawing of interest charges), these friars negotiated the Church’s usury laws in order to reduce the cost of consumer credit and improve the profitability of silk and hemp traders.…”

“…They also lent funds to local authorities, supporting a number of important civic entities with finance and administration. Thus, the use of double-entry bookkeeping and controls to ensure the Monti’s financial sustainability, also helped to assure the church (and others) “that they were conducting their business affairs justly and avoiding sinful behaviour” (Orelli et al, 2013: 289).…”

“…Finally, there is a lack of studies into accounting-related topics such as externally-mandated taxes (Lee, 2006; Riccaboni et al, 2006; Hong, 2014 are exceptions), management of social enterprises (except for Bracci et al, 2010; Orelli et al, 2013; Madonna et al, 2014) and management accounting (apart from Dobie, 2008a, 2011; Payer-Langthaler and Hiebl, 2013; Hiebl and Feldbauer-Durstmüller, 2014; Hong, 2014) . The subject of interest/usury has been analysed (Visser and Macintosh, 1998 ; Jafri and Margolis, 1999; Lister, 2006), but its effects and changes in attitudes may also be worthy of further study.…”