IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v94y2023ics1045235422000363.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Chinese accounting profession in the People’s Republic: A preliminary understanding from an oral history perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Xue, Qingmei
  • Zan, Luca

Abstract

While oral history still has a marginal role in accounting literature in general, it has not been applied at all in relation to the history of Chinese accounting. Within broader research on accounting change in China, this paper uses oral history to investigate patterns of the career of accountants in China. We interviewed 21 retired accountants, aging from 60 to 90 at the time of the interview, asking them to share their professional experience in open and unstructured talk. We reconstruct individual experiences, which provides insights into the working lives of our interviewees. Unlike previous studies that only focus on influential informants, we investigate Chinese accounting changes as they emerge from the collective memory of everyday accountants. Taking a pluralist perspective, we collect non-archival data to illustrate the education and common elements in accounting career development. Our approach takes a ‘view from below’, underlining the limitations of top-down perspectives in most of the literature on accounting change in China. The findings contribute to our understanding of accounting changes in China and their social and economic impacts on the profession while providing interesting implications for oral history in accounting in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Xue, Qingmei & Zan, Luca, 2023. "The Chinese accounting profession in the People’s Republic: A preliminary understanding from an oral history perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:94:y:2023:i:c:s1045235422000363
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2022.102451
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235422000363
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2022.102451?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marilynn Collins & Robert Bloom, 1991. "The Role of Oral History in Accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(4), pages 1-1, December.
    2. Theresa Hammond & Prem Sikka, 1996. "Radicalizing accounting history: the potential of oral history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 79-97, August.
    3. Kim, Soon Nam, 2008. "Whose voice is it anyway? Rethinking the oral history method in accounting research on race, ethnicity and gender," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1346-1369.
    4. Garry D. Carnegie & Christopher J. Napier, 1996. "Critical and interpretive histories: insights into accounting’s present and future through its past," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 7-39, August.
    5. Zhu, Jingqi & Spence, Crawford & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2021. "Thinking like the state: Doxa and symbolic power in the accounting field in China," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    6. Graham, Lynford E. & Li, Chunyan, 1997. "Cultural and economic influences on current accounting standards in the People's Republic of China," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 247-278.
    7. Xingqiang Du, 2016. "Does Confucianism Reduce Board Gender Diversity? Firm-Level Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 399-436, June.
    8. Ding, Yuan & Su, Xijia, 2008. "Implementation of IFRS in a regulated market," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 474-479.
    9. Henry Mintzberg, 1978. "Patterns in Strategy Formation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(9), pages 934-948, May.
    10. Ezzamel, Mahmoud & Xiao, Jason Zezhong, 2015. "The development of accounting regulations for foreign invested firms in China: The role of Chinese characteristics," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 60-84.
    11. Hopwood, Anthony G., 1987. "The archeology of accounting systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 207-234, April.
    12. Burchell, Stuart & Clubb, Colin & Hopwood, Anthony G., 1985. "Accounting in its social context: Towards a history of value added in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 381-413, October.
    13. Li, Xinxiang & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2021. "Accounting, Ideological and Political Work and Chinese multinational operations: A neo-Gramscian perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Yang, ChunLei & Modell, Sven, 2015. "Shareholder orientation and the framing of management control practices: A field study in a Chinese state-owned enterprise," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-23.
    15. Haynes, Kathryn, 2010. "Other lives in accounting: Critical reflections on oral history methodology in action," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 221-231.
    16. Zhang, Guohua & Boyce, Gordon & Ahmed, Kamran, 2014. "Institutional changes in university accounting education in post-revolutionary China: From political orientation to internationalization," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 819-843.
    17. Luca Zan & Qingmei Xue, 2011. "Budgeting China. Macro‐policies and micro‐practices in public sector changes," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 38-62, January.
    18. M.W. Luke Chan & Wendy Rotenberg, 1999. "Accounting, Accounting Education, and Economic Reform in the People’s Republic of China," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 37-53, September.
    19. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    20. Zambon, Stefano & Zan, Luca, 2000. "Accounting relativism: the unstable relationship between income measurement and theories of the firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 799-822, November.
    21. Angus Duff & John Ferguson, 2012. "Disability and the professional accountant: insights from oral histories," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 71-101, January.
    22. Meng, Xin & Gregory, R G, 2002. "The Impact of Interrupted Education on Subsequent Educational Attainment: A Cost of the Chinese Cultural Revolution," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(4), pages 935-959, July.
    23. Qingmei Xue & Luca Zan, 2012. "Opening the door to accounting change. Transformations in Chinese public sector accounting," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 269-299, November.
    24. Richard Macve, 2020. "Perspectives from mainland China, Hong Kong and the UK on the development of China’s auditing firms: implications and a research agenda," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 641-692, November.
    25. Ezzamel, Mahmoud & Xiao, Jason Zezhong & Pan, Aixiang, 2007. "Political ideology and accounting regulation in China," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 669-700.
    26. Yee, Helen, 2009. "The re-emergence of the public accounting profession in China: A hegemonic analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 71-92.
    27. Zhen Ping Hao, 1999. "Regulation and organisation of accountants in China," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 286-302, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xue, Qingmei & Zan, Luca, 2022. "The Chinese accounting profession in the People’s Republic: A preliminary understanding from an oral history perspective," MPRA Paper 114407, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie & Mirshekary, Soheila & Yaftian, Ali, 2020. "Accounting professionalization, the state, and transnational capitalism: The case of Iran," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Li, Xinxiang & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2021. "Accounting, Ideological and Political Work and Chinese multinational operations: A neo-Gramscian perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Garry D. Carnegie & Christopher J. Napier, 2012. "Accounting's past, present and future: the unifying power of history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 328-369, February.
    5. Zhu, Jingqi & Spence, Crawford & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2021. "Thinking like the state: Doxa and symbolic power in the accounting field in China," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    6. Modell, Sven & Yang, ChunLei, 2018. "Financialisation as a strategic action field: An historically informed field study of governance reforms in Chinese state-owned enterprises," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 41-59.
    7. Golyagina, Alena, 2020. "Competing logics in university accounting education in post-revolutionary Russia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Nhu Tuyên Le, 2009. "Liens Entre Comptabilite Et Systeme Economique : La Transition Vietnamienne," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-00460227, HAL.
    9. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie & Alshareef, Mohammed Naif & Bazhair, Ayman, 2017. "Accounting professionalization and the state: The case of Saudi Arabia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 29-47.
    10. Nhu Tuyên Le, 2009. "Liens Entre Comptabilite Et Systeme Economique : La Transition Vietnamienne," Post-Print halshs-00460227, HAL.
    11. Robson, Keith & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2023. "The cultural fields of accounting practices: Institutionalization and accounting changes beyond the organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    12. Gianluca Antonucci, 2023. "The Church and the art of governing people in a period of crisis: An analysis of the Inchiesta Innocenziana (1650-55)," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 39-59.
    13. Giovanna Centorrino, 2021. "The complex power dynamics within a health care institution during the 15th and 18th centuries. The case of the Great and New Hospital of Palermo," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 11-59.
    14. Walker, Stephen P., 2016. "Revisiting the roles of accounting in society," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 41-50.
    15. Bigoni, Michele & Funnell, Warwick, 2015. "Ancestors of governmentality: Accounting and pastoral power in the 15th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 160-176.
    16. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16.
    17. Lambert Jerman, 2013. "La Juste Valeur : Une Comptabilite Actuarielle Pour Les Marches ... Ou Les Comptables ?," Post-Print hal-00991877, HAL.
    18. Zhang, Eagle & Andrew, Jane, 2016. "Rethinking China: Discourse, convergence and fair value accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-21.
    19. Maran, Laura & Bracci, Enrico & Funnell, Warwick, 2016. "Accounting and the management of power: Napoleon’s occupation of the commune of Ferrara (1796–1799)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 60-78.
    20. Silvia Rossetti & Roberto Verona, 2017. "International Differences in IFRS Policy Choice and the Persistence of Accounting Classification: The Case of China," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-27, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:94:y:2023:i:c:s1045235422000363. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.