Description
Italian accounting has a long and honourable tradition of theoretical and applied analysis of the accounting and reporting function, perceived and defined much more broadly than in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The high point of this perhaps, is the creation of what is known as Economia Aziendale (EA). The antecedents, genesis and later developments are presented here in detail by highly knowledgeable specialists in the field.
EA takes as a prerequisite the necessity of the business (entity/azienda) to ensure its own long-run survival. This requires that the necessary resources are retained and preserved, so operating capital maintenance, by definition future-oriented, is essential. It requires a focus on the particular business organization, entity-specific and consistent with today's notion of the business model. Entity-specific information relevant to current and future cash flows is a necessary pre-requisite for ensuring long-run survival, which historical cost accounting, or fair value (being market-specific not entity-specific) satisfactorily achieve.
Flexibility of valuation and of reporting, always relevant to the specific asset at the specific time in the specific place, is a necessary condition for effective management. This is exactly the focus of EA and its analysis and tradition. Scholars and advanced students of international regulation and accounting, as well as accounting history, will find this an invaluable guide to a vibrant, scholarly tradition of great practical relevance today.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Stefano Adamo, David Alexander, Roberto Di Pietra and Roberta Fasiello
1 The contribution of Maffeo Pantaleoni in the field of financial valuation
Luciano D’Amico and Riccardo Palumbo
2 Fabio Besta: financial valuations at the beginning of the twentieth century in Italy
Antonella Paolini and Michela Soverchia
3 Financial valuations in the Italian patrimonialist tradition
Stefano Coronella
4 Income measurement and asset valuation under Zappa’s theory
David Alexander, Roberta Fasiello and Francesco Giaccari
5 The "functional value" (valore funzionale) in the Tuscan School of "Economia Aziendale": the contribution of Alberto Ceccherelli and Egidio Giannessi to financial valuation theory
Enrico Gonnella
6 The financial statements in Aldo Amaduzzi’s thought
Antonio Costa and Alessandra Tafuro
7 The contribution of Lino Azzini to Financial Accounting and Group Accounting in Italy
Stefano Azzali and Luca Fornaciari
8 The contributions of Carlo Masini to accounting theories
Paolo Andrei and Silvano Corbella
9 Financial valuations in Domenico Amodeo’s thought
Sara Saggese, Adele Caldarelli and Riccardo Viganò
10 Paolo Emilio Cassandro and the rational valuations
Stefano Adamo, Pierluca Di Cagno and Francesca Imperiale
11 Insights into the notion of goodwill from the Italian theoretical contribution
Roberto Di Pietra
12 "Consumable income" according to Edoardo Ardemani’s thought
Alessandro Lai
