著者

中村 恒彦

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

桃山学院大学経済経営論集 = St. Andrew's University economic and business review (ISSN:02869721)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.53, no.4, pp.7-43, 2012-03-30

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As the counterpart of modern accounting, critical accounting has revealed aspects that could not be clarified by modern accounting. Having its roots in Marxism, critical accounting has indicated that accounting functions not only as a micro accounting policy of each individual company but also as a macro accounting policy. It may not be an overstatement to say that Japanese-style accounting has developed under the combined influence of modern accounting and critical accounting. Despite its contribution, however, critical accounting does not seem to have received due recognition, presumably because of its tendency to deny the legitimacy of modern accounting and the established system. In fact, the theories studied in this paper also have such a tendency. Yet it is a mistake to refuse to acknowledge that critical accounting has revealed aspects that had been overlooked by modern accounting, thereby contributing to the field of accounting as a whole. By discussing the conceptual view, that is, the ideology, that critical accounting envisions, this paper aims to identify the aspects that tend to be overlooked in the existing accounting studies. As emphasized in Western critical accounting, what is believed important in that process is the "alternative" understanding. The ideology of critical accounting is underlain by Marx's formula: "They don't know it, but they do it." Some critical accounting theories argue that accounting or the entire accounting system unconsciously rationalizes or justifies companies' capital accumulation and profit seeking. Other theories claim that disclosing financial statements or the interests of companies as such comprises a surreptitious means of rationalizing or justifying corporate control. In any case, these theories seem to define accounting by examining in one way or another discourses arising from the phenomenon of accounting. It is, however, impracticable to study all theories of critical accounting in this analysis. Instead, this paper reviews the historic trend of critical accounting, thereby identifying the ideology of critical accounting and examining the ideological concepts of accounting. By studying the transition of critical accounting theories over generations of scholars, specifically the transition from the Miyagami theory to the Tsumori theory and to the Yamaji theory, this paper intends to organize what has been drawn from the ideology of critical accounting.