Italian Studies about Financial Accounting Measurements from the Twenties to the Sixties of Last Century: Some Theoretical Positions

The main subject of the paper is the theory of accounting measurements as observed from a historical perspective. In particular, the research concerns the most significant theoretical concepts developed by the Italian doctrine in the period from the Twenties to the Sixties of the last century. This is a historical phase of great cultural ferment, characterised by the progressive deepening of the subject of accounting valuations by Italian scholars, made possible, in some cases, by the careful observation of practice, in others by their original intuitions. During this period, there were some very interesting theoretical positions, little known especially outside Italy. The evolutionary process regarding the subject of financial accounting measurements, found in the phase under consideration, was undoubtedly rather complex and articulated. As it was impossible, within the limits of this paper, to analyse the thought of the many scholars who gave their contribution to the development of the subject at hand, we deemed it appropriate to focalise our attention on those scholars who, by developing theses among the most innovative and original, left their mark on the Italian accounting history. We will mention in particular such scholars as Gino Zappa, Vittorio Alfieri, Francesco De Gobbis, Pietro Onida, Lorenzo De Minico, Alberto Ceccherelli, Egidio Giannessi. The analysis revealed how Italian scholars, aware that the valuative problem could not be addressed with simple valuation rules, were interested in finding general principles that could be useful models of behaviour for accounting practice, principles that still retain a good explanatory power of the analysed problem. This made it possible to understand that the valuation, being a process that transcends the simple mechanistic application of predefined rules, requires the formulation of a judgment based on the observation of the firm’s specific characteristics and of those of the external environment in which it operates. The research also allowed us to identify the main trends in the examined evolutionary process, including the progressive relativization as well as the increasing subjectivity of values, the trend towards a holistic approach to the problem of accounting valuations, last but at the same time first from a doctrinal point of view, the tendency to a scientification of the discipline of financial accounting measurements.