Capitalism and the return on capital employed. Some further evidence

John Richard Edwards

The British Accounting Review, 2024, vol. 56, issue 6

Abstract: Return on capital employed is recognised both as a symbol of capitalism and as a calculation designed to help achieve the more effective deployment of available resources. Dating the emergence of this ‘accounting signature’ has been the subject of vigorous debate. Rob Bryer believes that calculation of the return on capital employed played a meaningful role in business life from the eighteenth century onwards whereas Steven Toms (2006, p. 206) finds scant evidence of the existence of this emblem of a capitalist mentality until ‘much later’. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate based on the contents of the Spencer Stanhope archive, Eighteenth Century Collections Online and UK Parliamentary Papers.

Keywords: Accounting and economic development; Accounting history; Capitalism; Profit; Return on capital employed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:bracre:v:56:y:2024:i:6:s0890838924000209

DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2024.101320

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