The governance of standard setting and the role of academia in Italian accounting regulation, 1942 to the present

Abstract

This article provides a historical analysis of the role of the accounting academia in influencing Italian accounting regulation from the 1942 Civil Code to the present. It builds on the theory of social order to investigate the evolution of accounting regulation in accordance with the rise, dominance, and decline of the sources of social order and finds that academia has progressively lost its influence. The declining role of academia is interpreted in light of its inability to evolve from a vibrant community to a more structured association, which contributed to the lack of a unified position and of a formally acknowledged representation in the Italian standard setter. The progressive exclusion of academics also parallels the growing role of professional associations in the increasingly structured governance of standard setting. Moreover, this work highlights a progressive fading of the typical features of community and the collective identity originally characterizing Italian accounting academia.

Accounting and governance in diverse settings – an introduction

“…The accounting regulating process requires both expertise and governance capability. Quagli et al (2019) demonstrate how expertise only is not enough to maintain a role in the accounting regulation process, and Italian accounting academics failed in becoming an association within the social order and, thereby, being recognised as a key stakeholder in the governance of accounting regulation.…”

“…This is the focus of the seventh article of this issue, where Alberto Quagli, Francesco Avallone, Paola Ramassa and Elisa Roncagliolo investigate the evolution of the role of Italian accounting academics in the governance of the accounting regulation and standards setting process in Italy. Quagli et al (2019) investigate the governance of accounting regulation in Italy and question the role of Italian accounting academics in this key endeavour from the public interest perspective. In their historical analysis from mid-1940s to the present, they show how accounting academics progressively lost their consultancy role and were replaced by accounting practitioners and accounting professional associations.…”

“…The governance of the accounting standard setting may involve different subjects – accounting academics included – all trying to make their expertise available while seeking their particular interests to prevail. To reveal the role of accounting academics in this regulating process, Quagli et al (2019) inform their analysis on the theory of social order which considers those social elements with the power to affect relevant social processes. In this research, the accounting standard setting is considered a social process where four elements are at play (i.e.…”