Accounting change: explaining the outcomes, interpreting the process

Purpose: The issue of accounting change, why and how accounting evolves through time and within specific organizational settings, has been addressed by an important body of literature. The paper aims at explaining why in processes of accounting change organizations confronting similar environmental pressures show different outcomes of change. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on archetype theory, the paper analyzes the case of two Italian Local Governments. Comparative case studies were carried out reconstructing a period of fifteen years. Findings: Although confronted with similar environmental pressures, they show two different patterns of accounting change, where only one is able to finally reach radical change. Accounting change can be prompted by external stimuli, but, once the change is prompted, outcomes of change are explained by the dynamics of intra-organizational conditions. Originality/value: The study contributes to accounting change literature by adopting an approach, archetype theory, which allows overcoming some of the limitations of previous studies in explaining organizational variation to change. Through this, we were able to explain different outcomes and paces of accounting change and point out the intra-organizational factors affecting them also in presence of similar environmental pressures. Also a specification of the theoretical framework in a particular setting is so provided.