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(1) INTRODUCTION
In a recent report into new research directions in management accounting a geographically and philosophically diverse group of eight scholars argued for a convergence of different and complementary approaches to the subject. They concluded that, "[n]ew directions and advances in management accounting research depend on researchers actively seeking synergy among different research methods and disciplines" (Atkinson et al. 1997, p. 98). The authors argued specifically that management accounting research can benefit from integration with advances in economic, organisational, and social theory. In another recent assessment, Foster and Young (1996, p. 75) have called for "management accounting academics to gain broader and deeper institutional knowledge [and] ... a longer term perspective". In this essay we particularise these general calls by arguing that powerful synergies exist between the study of accounting and business history in Australasia. Historical evidence can be usefully employed to further our understanding of how management accounting systems (hereafter MAS) develop in our leading contemporary corporations.
(2) THE VALUE OF LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
Both demand and supply side conditions influence the nature and development of MAS. The desire for greater efficiency has been widely viewed as a critical driving force although a recent study has balanced this with longitudinal evidence on the redistributive motive (Hopper and Armstrong 1991). They argue that firms design MAS to extract greater effort from their workforce without an accompanying increase in remuneration. On the supply side, technological progress and changing patterns of thought are both regarded as influences on MAS although little empirical work exists on either (Luft 1997, p. 163).
History provides us with some distinct advantages and powerful tools for understanding the contingency basis for different MAS. The longitudinal approach avoids the limited predictive value of comparative statics. In particular, it enables us to distinguish the short from the long term and therefore filter out aberrations such as fads, and reveals systems that only prove their worth in the longer term. While some evidence is always lost through the seeds of time there is also the promise of fuller disclosure of evidence because its competitive value and political sensitivity have been mitigated.
While accounting history studies bring greater longitudinal depth to an analysis of current MAS, the value...