Relational approaches to accounting change: the Stati as means of mediation in the Kingdom of Naples,

This study focuses on accounting change processes, by examining the creation and implementation of new accounting tools - known as Stati - for planning and monitoring local finance over the 1611–1633 period in the Kingdom of Naples. The Stati arose among several measures taken in this vast peripheral state of the Spanish imperial system to address problems concerning financial and material support, given Spanish constant war campaigns. The accounting change investigated in this research involved 2000 municipalities and initiated ongoing dialogue, thus situating the relationship between central government and local communities on new foundations. The aim of the paper is to ascertain how specific contextual and cultural features shaped this process. It employs Broadbent and Laughlin’s Middle Range Theory (MRT) and finds that the Kingdom of Naples underwent a successful change pathway known as reorientation through boundary management. The results highlight how the successful change took place beyond the intrinsic potential of the technical innovation proposed, showing how the tools proposed were conceived, designed, adapted, flexibly implemented, and shared among those responsible for change.