Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2007
Abstract
Existing literature on financial reporting practices within the first wave of regulation- the Interstate Commerce Commission may have its historical roots in the work of Charles Francis Adams Jr., and his fellow Commissioners contained within the financial reporting requirements established through state regulation in the Annual Reports of the Board of Railroad Commissioners in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1870 - 1913. In addition, the regulatory environment and the scope of railway activities found within the afore-mentioned reports may throw light on the question of what forces converted the simply recording technology of the Italian merchants of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries into the highly-developed sophisticated field of accounting of the twentieth century. The approach of this initial study is narrative as it is to systematically explore and analyze the content within the Annual Reports of the Massachusetts Railway Commission from 1870 to 1913; these reports may represent a major historical root of today's practice of corporate financial reporting. In accounting, as in other fields, knowledge of the past provides a prologue to understanding contemporary matters.
Keywords
corporation reports, Charles Francis Adams Jr., Massachusetts railways, regulation, railroad accounting
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Brearey, Chester H., "Enhanced Business Reporting: A Reemergence of 19th Century GAAP Policies" (2007). Student Scholarship. 193.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/193