Massachusetts Corporations Accounting Data, 1870-1895 and Accountants' Index Publications

This is the replication package for "Balancing the Books: Convergence and Diversity in Accounting, 1875-1895." <span>The late nineteenth century is often described as an era of innovation in managerial practice, including accounting. However, despite rich case studies of individual firms, we have little quantitative knowledge of average practices. This paper uses errors and omissions in balance statements to estimate the prevalence of double-entry bookkeeping and depreciation at Massachusetts corporations between 1875–1895. In 1875, 60 percent of firms balanced their returns, but by 1895 this number exceeded 96 percent. The proportion considering depreciation increased from 18 to 24 percent over the period. Firms using these techniques survived longer on average.<br><br>All tables and graphs except for Figure 4 use the data in the excel sheet titled "Mass Corps Accounting, 1870-1895." The stata do file includes, in order of the paper, code for the relevant tables and figures. Where they were constructed in excel, the do file notes this in the text. Figure 4 uses citation counts from the Accountants' Index, and these as well as how they were obtained are described in the excel file "Figure 4_Topics in the Accountants Index."</span>