“Accounting History Research in Italy, 1990–2004: An Introduction”

The paper presents the special issues with a short analysis of the patterns in accounting history research in Italy during the period 1990-2004. Italian accounting history research has become concerned with a broader range of issues, the 1990s witnessing a significant increase in the quantity and quality of research and a differentiation in the research focus. In this respect, the label of ‘roaring nineties’, applied by Fleischman & Radcliffe (2005) to accounting history largely, but not exclusively, in the Anglo-Saxon world, can certainly be applied to Italy. The number of published contributions and papers (258) in this period demonstrates that the Italian academic community is keenly interested in historical subjects. Regarding the focus of research, figures show a research interest in the category of paper aimed at deepening the life and thought of ‘accounting thinkers’, which points out a penchant amongst certain scholars for examining the Italian tradition. [...]