Religion, capitalism and the rise of double-entry bookkeeping

Hans Derks

Accounting, Business and Financial History, 2008, vol. 18, issue 2, pages 187-213

Abstract: Max Weber and Werner Sombart inspired a famous debate about the following problem: what should be the (historical) basis nowadays for understanding the relationship between religion, capitalism and double-entry bookkeeping (DEB)? In their view DEB practically invented capitalism thanks to its religious basis. Recently, the debate was renewed by claiming that Roman Catholicism played this pivotal role. The article deals with all three main concepts in the relationship. It redefines capitalism, gives DEB its proper place in the past and present, and denies that Roman Catholicism as a belief system had something to do with DEB and capitalism. As an alternative, it proposes a new theoretical framework based on a modernization of the age-old Aristotelean Oikos versus Market thought, which was revived in Weber's Evolution der Hausgemeinschaft.

Keywords: accounting history; business history; capitalism; double-entry bookkeeping; religion; oikos-market theory; Max Weber (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008

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