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Accounting is an Evolved Economic Institution starts by defining
accounting history research
and posing six big picture questions about historical accounting evolution. The book summarizes accounting history over the past ten thousand years - this literature review provides useful examples for subsequent sections and can be used as a primer of accounting history. The authors explain how accounting history can inform scholars studying modern institutions by analyzing several exemplary research papers.
Numerous empirical studies are examined using archival accounting data and suggest further questions that can build upon and extend published research. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of an evolutionary perspective for accounting research and identify numerous research opportunities under each of the six big picture questions to build a coherent evolutionary theory of accounting.
The book shows that studying the history of accounting evolution is socially valuable for several reasons. First, accounting institutional history can provide useful background knowledge and context for scholars seeking to understand modern institutions. Second, historical data provide unique opportunities to study issues of enduring importance. Third, history is the necessary focus of evolutionary theories that seek an ultimate explanation for how human societies and economic institutions are shaped over a long period of time. Fourth, a lack of historical knowledge can predispose researchers to confirmation bias. Finally, studying accounting history can help develop professional identity, not just for accounting scholars but also for accounting students.
