ACCOUNTING PRACTICE AND BUSINESS FINANCE: SOME CASE STUDIES FROM THE IRON AND COAL INDUSTRY 1865—1914
基于四家钢铁煤炭公司的档案记录，研究19世纪末20世纪初英国公司如何利用固定资产会计实务和审慎财务政策（如限制分红、避免贷款）来影响财务报告，与当时普遍高估利润的观点形成对比。
The use of secret reserves by British companies, both to manipulate the content of published reports and to influence investor perceptions of corporate progress during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, has been an important focus of historical enquiry. By way of contrast, relatively little attention has been devoted to the possible exploitation of fixed asset accounting practices to achieve similar financial reporting objectives. It is the aim of the present paper to help to redress this imbalance. The principal basis for the study is the archival records of four major iron and coal companies. Identified features of prudent financial policy include: a determination to restrict distributions and the level of activity to what the company could comfortably afford; and a reluctance to use loan finance. The selection of accounting practices was subordinated to the pursuit of these, and related, policy objectives. The identified use of prudent financial policies may be contrasted with Briefs (1976, p. 184) conclusion that nineteenth century companies consistently over‐estimated profitability, with a consequential stimulation of business investment and economic growth.