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Roberto Rossi

University of Salerno Italy, Department of Social and Political Studies, Faculty Member

University of Salerno Italy, DISES, Faculty Member

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Phone: +39089963425
Address: Department of Political and Social Studies- University of Salerno
Via Giovanni Paolo II - 84084 Fisciano (SALERNO)
ITALY

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Papers by Roberto Rossi

To Contain and Control: Work Organization and Poor Government in the Hospicio De Pobres of Mexico City and Real Albergo Dei Poveri of Palermo in Eighteenth Century*

The research aims to compare two different institutions: The Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo a... more The research aims to compare two different institutions: The Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo and the Hospicio de Pobres of Mexico City. The Real Albergo dei Poveri was established in 1772 (nevertheless its construction started 30 years earlier), where a silk manufacture, the Real Opificio delle Sete (Royal Silk factory), was established in 1790 to exploit the workforce hosted in the institution. The Hospicio de Pobres of Mexico City was settled in 1774 hosting a textile (cotton and wool) manufacture. Both the institutions were established in the same period and under the same theoretical impulse. The idea was born within that broad process of cultural change and administrative reforms that took place all over Europe and, of course, in the Bourbon New Spain. The enthronement of Charles of Bourbon in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in 1734 and subsequently in the Kingdom of Spain (1759), and his hand in the administrative reform, could be considered the fil rouge of the research.

Barcelona´s indianas manufacture: an early management accounting in J.B. Sires & Co. (1769-1805)

De Computis - Revista Española de Historia de la Contabilidad, Dec 29, 2017

The paper aims to contribute to the debate about the emergence and development of management acco... more The paper aims to contribute to the debate about the emergence and development of management accounting in Europe by presenting an example of management accounting in Spain in the second half of the eighteenth century. The paper deepens the case of an indianas (cotton canvas printed and dyed) factory in Barcelona, exploring the productive organization and managerial structure using the accounting books of the firm. The firm's methods of production, work organization, product costing, and production quality control are reviewed within the political and economic context of Spain during a period of deep transformation with the enthronement of a new monarchy and a deep change in the economic policy. The evidence presented in the paper support the existence of rudimentary management accounting and control techniques in a private firm in the midst of European industrialization. RESUMEN: El artículo se propone de contribuir al debate sobre el surgimiento y desarrollo de la contabilidad de gestión en Europa presentando un ejemplo de la España de la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. El trabajo profundiza el caso de una fábrica de indianas (telas de algodón impresas y pintadas) en Barcelona, explorando la organización productiva y la estructura gerencial utilizando los libros contables de la empresa. Los métodos de producción, organización del trabajo, producción de productos y control de la calidad de la producción se revisan dentro del contexto político y económico de España durante un período de profunda transformación con la entronización de una nueva monarquía y un profundo cambio en la política económica. La evidencia presentada en el documento apoya la existencia de técnicas de contabilidad y control de gestión rudimentarias En una empresa privada en medio de la industrialización europea.

Accounting for madness: the “Real Casa dei Matti” of Palermo 1824-1860

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2017

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an e... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy. Design/methodology/approach The paper is informed by Foucault’s studies of lunatic asylums and his work on governmentality which gave prominence to the role of statistics, the “science of the State”. Findings This paper identifies a number of roles played by accounting in the management of the lunatic asylum studied. Most importantly, information which formed the basis of accounting reports was used to describe, classify and give visibility and measurability to the “deviance” of the insane. It also legitimated the role played by lunatic asylums, as entrusted to them in post-Napoleonic early nineteenth century society, and was a tool to mediate with the public authorities to provide adequate resources for the institution to operate. Research limitations/implications This paper encourages accounting scholars to engage more widely wi...

Cost Accounting for War: Contracting Procedures and Cost-plus Pricing in WWI Industrial Mobilization in Italy

European Accounting Review, 2015

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore the role played by cost accounting in Italy's In... more Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore the role played by cost accounting in Italy's Industrial Mobilization system and in the largest firm manufacturing weaponry, Ansaldo of Genoa, during WWI. While in other countries such as the UK and the USA, efficiency in buying and managing war material was an important part of military strategy, in Italy, various factors impeded it. This paper focuses on contracting procedures adopted by the Ministry of War and Ministry of Munitions and looks at the cost accounting practices in Ansaldo to see how costs were determined and how prices were set. We found a paradox. On the one hand, despite knowledge of costing, the government did not impose cost controls on the producers of war material, nor on their profit rates. On the other hand, examining Ansaldo's cost sheets we discover they underestimated their production costs leading the firm to losses despite its favorable political position. This paper contributes to the theoretical debate about the relationships between accounting and war in the Italian context where lobbying, collusion, bribery and private interests dominated the administrative behavior of public and private actors instead of efficiency, accountability and honesty.

Institutions, natural resources and economic growth in the modern age, the case of Dogana delle Pecore in the Kingdom of Naples (XV-XVIII Centuries)

Review of Economics and Institutions, 2014

The trade of wheat and wool has been one of the economic pillars of the Kingdom of Naples during ... more The trade of wheat and wool has been one of the economic pillars of the Kingdom of Naples during Modern Age. Since Romans times the production of these commodities -in the continental part of the Kingdom -has been regulated by the trashumance system that coordinated the flow of sheep on Puglia's Tavoliere lands. We would highlight the role exercised by the institutions as development agents. In particular, the paper would demonstrate that the new institutions introduced by the king Alfonso I of Aragon were the main driver not only of trashumance but of the entire economic framework of the kingdom. A simple analytical model based on the complementary dynamics of pasturing and wheat production shows the results of the functioning of the new system. The results challenges the negative interpretation of the trashumance led on by the Neapolitan Reformers (illuministi) at the end of XVIII Century and widely absorbed by historians in the XX Century.

Poor government and work organisation in the real albergo dei poveri of palermo: a bio-political experiment in bourbon-sicily (eighteenth–nineteenth centuries)

De Computis - Revista Española de Historia de la Contabilidad, 2018

The paper aims to improve understanding of the role played by accounting in its function of gover... more The paper aims to improve understanding of the role played by accounting in its function of government practice, considering the interfacing function of the Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo charity. Michel Foucault’s governmentality framework is adopted in order to explore the labour organisation within the Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo, where a silk manufacturer, the Real Opificio delle Sete (Royal Silk factory), was established in 1790 to exploit the workforce hosted in the institution. The paper analyses the accounting system established to manage the commodified and forced labour of poor female inmates in relation to a central issue—the social control promoted by central government. The idea is to demonstrate that work was the means to carry on the social control of people considered alien and not integrated by the society of the time, while the accounting system was the tool. The study uses documents from Palermo’s State Archive about the foundation and internal organisa...

Accounting and the stigma of poverty: the case of the “shameful poor” and Pio Monte Della Misericordia of Naples in the 17th and 18th century

The Pio Monte della Misericordia (PMM) is a charity settled in Naples in the early 17th century, ... more The Pio Monte della Misericordia (PMM) is a charity settled in Naples in the early 17th century, and it is still active in social care services and assistance to the disadvantaged. The institution was the result of the action of a group of noblemen who were part of the most powerful Neapolitan families. The action of the PMM was directed in favour of the poor, sick and dead as well as captives, following Matthew’s gospel (25, 34–36). Alongside these works, the PMM also acted in another peculiar direction, assistance to the “shameful poor”, that is, the decayed nobles—members of noble families who were no longer able to uphold the “nobles’ way of life”. This kind of poverty was considered a weakness of the system because it called into question the social stratification of feudal society of the 17th century. For this reason, the nobility reacted by founding the PMM, which collected subscriptions from its associates, who were almost all of the most powerful Neapolitan noble families, ...

Lancashire cotton spinners. A fortune made in the mills

Business History

TO CONTAIN AND CONTROL: WORK ORGANIZATION AND POOR GOVERNMENT IN THE HOSPICIO DE POBRES OF MEXICO CITY AND REAL ALBERGO DEI POVERI OF PALERMO IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Mediterranea. Ricerche Storiche, n.48, 2020

The research aims to compare two different institutions: The Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo a... more The research aims to compare two different institutions: The Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo and the Hospicio de Pobres of Mexico City. The Real Albergo dei Poveri was established in 1772 (nevertheless its construction started 30 years earlier), where a silk manufacture, the Real Opificio delle Sete (Royal Silk factory), was established in 1790 to exploit the workforce hosted in the institution. The Hospicio de Pobres of Mexico City was settled in 1774 hosting a textile (cotton and wool) manufacture. Both the institutions were established in the same period and under the same theoretical impulse. The idea was born within that broad process of cultural change and administrative reforms that took place all over Europe and, of course, in the Bourbon New Spain. The enthronement of Charles of Bourbon in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in 1734 and subsequently in the Kingdom of Spain (1759), and his hand in the administrative reform, could be considered the fil rouge of the research.

Accounting in hybrid forms of capitalist/socialist enterprises: A multiple interpretative approach to the Royal Factory of Silk of San Leucio, 1802–1826

Accounting History, 2017

The aim of this article is to describe the role played by accounting in an industrial company in ... more The aim of this article is to describe the role played by accounting in an industrial company in which elements of utopian socialism and capitalism co-existed. The case is the Royal Silk Factory founded by King Ferdinand IV at San Leucio, near Caserta in 1778. The article covers the years 1802–1826. In this hybrid institution, double-entry bookkeeping (DEB) was adopted to calculate the minimum profit rate owed to the capitalist shareholders, while ‘labour accounting’ measured the workers’ performance. The surplus value was shared between the enterprise and the workers. This article makes a number of contributions to the accounting history literature: First, it adds archival evidence of accounting practices in Italian industrial companies; second, it supports the close connection between DEB and capitalism; third, it shows that the accounting system is set up to reflect the different social organisation of a manufacturing company; and finally, it illustrates how the accounting system makes the wealth-generating and wealth-distributing processes accountable.

UN MODELLO DI AZIONE COLLETTIVA NELLA MANIFATTURA COTONIERA DEL XVIII SECOLO: LA REAL COMPANIA DE HILADOS DE BARCELONA

Storia Economica, 2017

La manifattura delle indianas a Barcellona durante il XVIII secolo fu interessata da un rapido e ... more La manifattura delle indianas a Barcellona durante il XVIII secolo fu interessata da un rapido e tumultuoso sviluppo, generato dalla crescita del mercato e dalla modifica dei gusti dei consumatori. Nell’arco di circa trent’anni, tra il 1730 ed il 1760, in città si diffusero numerosissime manifatture. Uno dei principali problemi che dovettero affrontare fu l’approvvigionamento della materia prima. Il cotone filato era importato dall’oriente da mercanti maltesi, che costituivano un consolidato monopolio. I produttori barcellonesi si organizzarono costituendo un’istituzione che potesse coordinare l’azione collettiva nei confronti dell’approvvigionamento del cotone. Il saggio analizza la Real Compañía de Hilados come tentativo di coordinare la gestione di un bene comune (il cotone filato) limitando l’azione individuale degli attori.

Budgetary practices in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Munitions in Italy, 1915–1918

Accounting History Review, 2014

The purpose of this paper is to examine state budgeting for the costs of the First World War (WW... more The purpose of this paper is to examine state budgeting for the costs of the First World War (WWI) in Italy. Troops, weapons and munitions were initially managed by the Ministry of War (1915–1917) and then jointly with the Ministry of Munitions (1917–1918). The change was intended to improve efficiency, cut costs and prevent fraud and corruption. However, the budgetary system proved incapable of achieving these aims. The ministry budgets were adjusted in wartime to disclose the additional costs of pursuing the conflict in a generalised way. Before the war, the budget report contained 101 items. When the war broke out only one additional category was added ‘War Expenses’ even though this comprised 90% of total costs by the end of the conflict. Drawing on a range of primary sources the paper analyses likely reasons for limited disclosures about the cost of the war, and emphasises the role of economic and political elites and systems of procurement. The experience of Italy in WWI confirms that budgeting is a socio-political, as well as a technical process.

Cost Accounting for War Contracting Procedures and Cost plus Pricing in WWI Industrial Mobilization in Italy.pdf

European Accounting Review, 2016

The aim of this paper is to explore the role played by cost accounting in Italy’s Industrial Mobi... more The aim of this paper is to explore the role played by cost accounting in Italy’s Industrial Mobilization system and in the largest firm manufacturing weaponry, Ansaldo of Genoa, during WWI. While in other countries such as the UK and the USA, efficiency in buying and managing war material was an important part of military strategy, in Italy, various factors impeded it. This paper focuses on contracting procedures adopted by the Ministry of War and Ministry of Munitions and looks at the cost accounting practices in Ansaldo to see how costs were determined and how prices were set. We found a paradox. On the one hand, despite knowledge of costing, the government did not impose cost controls on the producers of war material, nor on their profit rates. On the other hand, examining Ansaldo’s cost sheets we discover they underestimated their production costs leading the firm to losses despite its favorable political position. This paper contributes to the theoretical debate about the relationships between accounting and war in the Italian context where lobbying, collusion, bribery and private interests dominated the administrative behavior of public and private actors instead of efficiency, accountability and honesty.

Accounting for madness: the “Real Casa dei Matti” of Palermo 1824-1860

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2017

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early
nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is informed by Foucault’s studies of lunatic asylums and his
work on governmentality which gave prominence to the role of statistics, the “science of the State”.
Findings – This paper identifies a number of roles played by accounting in the management of the lunatic
asylum studied. Most importantly, information which formed the basis of accounting reports was used to
describe, classify and give visibility and measurability to the “deviance” of the insane. It also legitimated
the role played by lunatic asylums, as entrusted to them in post-Napoleonic early nineteenth century
society, and was a tool to mediate with the public authorities to provide adequate resources for the
institution to operate.
Research limitations/implications – This paper encourages accounting scholars to engage more widely
with socio-historical research that will encompass organisations such as lunatic asylums.
Originality/value – This paper provides, for the first time, a case of accounting applied to a lunatic asylum
from a socio-historical perspective.
Keywords Accounting, Foucault, Italy, Insane asylum, Moral therapy

POOR GOVERNMENT AND WORK ORGANISATION IN THE REAL ALBERGO DEI POVERI OF PALERMO: A BIO-POLITICAL EXPERIMENT IN BOURBON-SICILY (EIGHTEENTH–NINETEENTH CENTURIES

: The paper aims to improve understanding of the role played by accounting in its function of gov... more : The paper aims to improve understanding of the role played by accounting in its function of government
practice, considering the interfacing function of the Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo charity. Michel Foucault’s
governmentality framework is adopted in order to explore the labour organisation within the Real Albergo dei
Poveri of Palermo, where a silk manufacturer, the Real Opificio delle Sete (Royal Silk factory), was established
in 1790 to exploit the workforce hosted in the institution. The paper analyses the accounting system established to
manage the commodified and forced labour of poor female inmates in relation to a central issue—the social control
promoted by central government. The idea is to demonstrate that work was the means to carry on the social control
of people considered alien and not integrated by the society of the time, while the accounting system was the tool.
The study uses documents from Palermo’s State Archive about the foundation and internal organisation of the
Real Opificio delle Sete and account books from the institution and silk manufacturer to verify the role of labour
and its measurement, highlighting accounting based on the checking and reporting system. Furthermore, the paper,
by means of the accounting system, examines the organisation of work and internal management, and the allocation
of wealth in the form of healthcare, social security and housing.

BARCELONA’S INDIANAS MANUFACTURE: AN EARLY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN J.B. SIRES & CO. (1769-1805)

The paper aims to contribute to the debate about the emergence and development of management acco... more The paper aims to contribute to the debate about the emergence and development of management accounting in Europe by presenting an example of management accounting in Spain in the second half of the eighteenth century. The paper deepens the case of an indianas (cotton canvas printed and dyed) factory in Barcelona, exploring the productive organization and managerial structure using the accounting books of the firm. The firm's methods of production, work organization, product costing, and production quality control are reviewed within the political and economic context of Spain during a period of deep transformation with the enthronement of a new monarchy and a deep change in the economic policy. The evidence presented in the paper support the existence of rudimentary management accounting and control techniques in a private firm in the midst of European industrialization. RESUMEN: El artículo se propone de contribuir al debate sobre el surgimiento y desarrollo de la contabilidad de gestión en Europa presentando un ejemplo de la España de la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. El trabajo profundiza el caso de una fábrica de indianas (telas de algodón impresas y pintadas) en Barcelona, explorando la organización productiva y la estructura gerencial utilizando los libros contables de la empresa. Los métodos de producción, organización del trabajo, producción de productos y control de la calidad de la producción se revisan dentro del contexto político y económico de España durante un período de profunda transformación con la entronización de una nueva monarquía y un profundo cambio en la política económica. La evidencia presentada en el documento apoya la existencia de técnicas de contabilidad y control de gestión rudimentarias En una empresa privada en medio de la industrialización europea.

Informal Credit in the Mediterranean Area XVI-XIX Centuries

The informal credit market is nowadays an important part of the financial system of the developin... more The informal credit market is nowadays an important part of the financial system of the developing countries. It plays a decisive role in channeling credit to small and poor borrowers in both urban and rural areas. It also constitutes an important source of working capital of all sizes and serves generally to ameliorate inefficiencies in the allocation of formal credit sector. The thesis is absolutely valid also during modern age. Along the whole modern age, informal credit has actually been the most widespread financial method. On the contrary, credit practiced by counters and merchants bankers, especially by means of letters of exchange, was mainly aimed at satisfying crowns, governments, municipal finances, big towns supplies needs. This is the reason why every commercial and manufacturing activity had to resort to un-institutional forms of credit, consisting in a wide range of traditional customs, law institutions and organizations, granting Europe the necessary financial basis from which to develop its own primary and secondary sectors.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche, n. 31. agosto 2014

by Roberto Rossi, Nicola Cusumano, Orazio Cancila, Gerassimos D. PAGRATIS, Federico Cresti, and Paolo Luca Bernardini

Institutions, Natural Resources and Economic Growth in the Modern Age, the case of Dogana delle Pecore in the Kingdom of Naples (XV-XVIII Centuries)

The trade of wheat and wool has been one of the economic pillars of the Kingdom of Naples during ... more The trade of wheat and wool has been one of the economic pillars of the Kingdom of Naples during Modern Age. Since Romans times the production of these commodities -in the continental part of the Kingdom -has been regulated by the trashumance system that coordinated the flow of sheep on Puglia's Tavoliere lands. We would highlight the role exercised by the institutions as development agents. In particular, the paper would demonstrate that the new institutions introduced by the king Alfonso I of Aragon were the main driver not only of trashumance but of the entire economic framework of the kingdom. A simple analytical model based on the complementary dynamics of pasturing and wheat production shows the results of the functioning of the new system. The results challenges the negative interpretation of the trashumance led on by the Neapolitan Reformers (illuministi) at the end of XVIII Century and widely absorbed by historians in the XX Century.

Organizzazione, amministrazione e gestione delle strutture sanitarie nella Sicilia di età moderna: 'Ospedale di Santa Caterina pro infirmis di Monreale tra XVI e XVII secolo

SOMMARIO: L'organizzazione e l'amministrazione delle istituzioni ospedaliere europee ha subito, n... more SOMMARIO: L'organizzazione e l'amministrazione delle istituzioni ospedaliere europee ha subito, nel corso dell'età moderna, una profonda trasformazione a causa sia del processo di urbanizzazione sia del dilagare di malattie epidemiche. Gli ospedali medievali, gestiti da istituzioni religiose e per lo più dediti all'accoglienza di malati e derelitti, hanno lasciato il posto, a partire dal XV secolo, a strutture organizzate su base medico-assistenziale, supportate da una più moderna organizzazione interna. Il lavoro, sulla base dell'analisi dei documenti contabili superstiti, ha inteso ricostruire le trasformazioni occorse all'Ospedale di Santa Caterina pro infirmis, rilevando i cambiamenti apportati al sistema di governance e di contabilità dell'istituzione in occasione della nomina del nuovo arcivescovo. In questo senso si è provato a mettere in luce le corrispondenze esistenti tra la nuova amministrazione del feudo di Monreale e le sopraggiunte necessità di controllo dell'ospedale, realizzate attraverso lo strumento contabile-amministrativo. PAROLE CHIAVE: Sicilia, Età moderna, Ospedale, Storia della Contabilità. ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNANCE OF SICILIAN HEALTH STRUCTURES DURING MODERN AGE: THE SANTA CATERINA PRO INFIRMIS HOSPITAL OF MONREALE BETWEEN XVI AND XVII CENTURY ABSTRACT: Organization and governance of European hospitals during modern age were affected by a deep transformation due to urbanization process and epidemic diseases that widespread all over continent. Medieval hospitals, founded and managed by religious institutions, to attend and accommodate sick and poor people were replaced by new institutions organized on a medical-care basis, with the support of a modern internal organization. The paper aims to reconstruct, with the help of the remaining accounting archival documents, the transformations occurred at Santa Caterina pro infirmis hospital, highlighting the changes improved by new archbishop in governance and accounting system. The research tried to point out the connections between new feudal administration of the city of Monreale and the control necessity on the hospital realized by the accounting system.