Capitalism and Accounting in the Dutch East-India
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2011 Capitalism and accounting in the Dutch East-India Company 1602-1623: an historical study of determining influences and practices Jeffrey Stephen Robertson University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Robertson, Jeffrey Stephen, Capitalism and accounting in the Dutch East-India Company 1602-1623: an historical study of determining influences and practices, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Accounting and Finance, University of Wollongong, 2011. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3329 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact Manager Repository Services: [email protected]. CAPITALISM AND ACCOUNTING IN THE DUTCH EAST-INDIA COMPANY 1602-1623: AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF DETERMINING INFLUENCES AND PRACTICES VOLUME I PARTS I & II A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by Jeffrey Stephen Robertson B.Com(Hons) (UNISA), MBS (Massey University) Faculty of Commerce School of Accounting and Finance 2011 CERTIFICATION I, Jeffrey Stephen Robertson, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Accounting and Finance, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. 8 February 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I, PARTS I & II CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Sombart: capitalism and bookkeeping .......................................................................................... 4 Contribution of Dutch empirical evidence ................................................................................... 9 Aims of the Thesis ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Scope of the thesis ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Extant VOC histories ................................................................................................................................. 18 Organisation of the thesis ...................................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 2: HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ACCOUNTING HISTORY ........................................ 33 Traditional history: A critique of salient features ...................................................................... 35 Objectivity .............................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Truth ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Narrative ................................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Scientific history ......................................................................................................................................... 48 Social history ................................................................................................................................................ 52 Marxist history ..................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Foucauldian analysis .......................................................................................................................................................... 59 Archaeology ........................................................................................................................................................................ 61 Genealogy ............................................................................................................................................................................ 64 Annales history .................................................................................................................................................................... 71 Mentalités history ............................................................................................................................................................ 76 Accounting history: Emergence and development ..................................................................... 82 Traditional accounting history ...................................................................................................................................... 87 New accounting history .................................................................................................................................................... 90 Strategy adopted for this history........................................................................................................ 94 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 99 CHAPTER 3: CAPITALISM AND BOOKKEEPING IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY .......102 Capitalism and accounting: Sombart and Weber’s hypotheses .........................................105 Sombart’s hypothesis ........................................................................................................................................................ 107 The Last Centuries of Early Capitalism ...................................................................................................................... 111 The capitalistic firm ........................................................................................................................................................... 117 Criticisms of Sombart’s thesis ........................................................................................................................................ 118 Weber’s Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism ................................................................................................. 124 BryerThe relationship between socialised capital and capital accounting .................126 The EEIC in perspective .................................................................................................................................................... 130 Sixteenth century Dutch bookkeeping: Purpose and practice ............................................135 Hanseatic business practices .......................................................................................................................................... 139 Hanseatic bookkeeping: the empirical evidence .................................................................................................... 143 Netherlands 16th century business practice ............................................................................................................ 145 A Netherlands’ bookkeeping genealogy: 16th century bookkeeping texts .....................154 Mansvelt’s opinion of the VOC’s bookkeeping .............................................................................177 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................180 PART II ............................................................................................................................... 187 CHAPTER 4: GEOGRAPHY AND NETHERLANDS' SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS .................. 189 Water management: A defining social influence ...................................................................... 192 The cope: the instrument of Dutch rural capitalism ............................................................... 200 The Netherlands’ rebellion .................................................................................................................. 205 The governance structure of The Netherlands Republic ................................................................................... 210 The States‐General ............................................................................................................................................................. 212 The States Provincial ......................................................................................................................................................... 215 The towns ............................................................................................................................................................................... 217 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 220 CHAPTER 5: NETHERLANDS’ TRADE AND COMMERCE ................................................... 223 History of the pepper and spice trade. ........................................................................................... 226 Amsterdam’s ascendency to world