REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE AND THE ACCOUNTANCY PROFESSION IN ITALY

The purpose of the paper is to examine the development of the accountancy profession in Italy, with particular reference to its relationship with the State. The period under review goes from 1906 – the year in which Law no. 327 was enacted regulating the accountancy profession consistently throughout the nation – until 2005, when the professional bodies of the dottori commercialisti and the ragionieri merged. The study uses both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources are a selection of laws, decrees and regulations issued by the government over time. A second set of documents consulted is the summaries of parliamentary debates and the explicative notes to laws and regulations. The secondary sources include writings on the sociology of the professions, international publications on the relationship between State and profession and economic history treatises on the history of the accountancy profession. The sources are examined mainly using a qualitative–deductive methodology. Passing through the analysis of some relevant variables, the results of study highlight how the State have significantly influenced the development of the accountancy profession. At the same time, this study extends the observation to a poorly explored economic–social context.