The road to uniformity: accounting change in UK voluntary hospitals

Neil Robson

Accounting and Business Research, 2006, vol. 36, issue 4, 271-288

Abstract: This paper explores the development and spread of the uniform system of accounts in United Kingdom voluntary hospitals in the period 1880-1920. The antecedent contextual factors are first established and include the growth of hospital care, changes in its nature, together with the emergence of the concepts of managerialism and efficiency. These factors are identified as important in stimulating the interest of external groups and institutions that were influential in raising the issue of accounting change. However, powerful individuals and groups within the voluntary hospital movement were able to control accounting reform and negate the power of external institutions. thereby successfully excluding the accounting profession from the development of uniform accounts. The paper further examines the subsequent spread of the uniform accounts and finds that economic power and professional and technological forces interacted to achieve a high degree of conformity of accounting practice within voluntary hospitals. This was achieved without the direct intervention of the State. Finally, the paper suggests that hospitals in the US followed the UK with their own uniformity drive.

Date: 2006
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2006.9730028 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:36:y:2006:i:4:p:271-288

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RABR20

DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2006.9730028

Access Statistics for this article

Accounting and Business Research is currently edited by Vivien Beattie

More articles in Accounting and Business Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().