Exploring the Boundaries between Accounting and Business Theory in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. An International Perspective

The main purpose of this research is to analyze different theoretical and doctrinal content of Business Administration in comparison with Accounting, highlighting the areas of overlap between the two disciplines and underpinning areas that seem totally innovative, clarifying the influence exerted by other fields, in particular by Economics. The issue addressed offers useful insights that can lead to a renewed interest in the definition of the doctrinal content of Business Administration, that is a still present field, able to perform its function of complex systematic knowledge, useful reference for specialized studies that the original statement of Zappa have developed quickly and radical changes in doctrinal content. The historical analysis that was conducted should also try to provide plausible explanations about the usefulness of a discipline, if conceived as mere "container of the business studies and administration" might seem outdated and even anachronistic.