Reviewed by Marc I. LeBow Virginia State University
Russia is situated astride Europe and Asia. As such, both Western (European) and Asian (Occidental) cultural influences have interacted to make the nation a unique blend of diverse cultural extremes. This has made Russia very difficult for Westerners to understand. Winston Churchill described Russia as an enigma wrapped in a paradox.
Despite these difficulties, understanding Russia is important to Western European historians. Russia is still a major power on the world stage. It is also a significant factor in the new independent nations that were once part of the greater Russian/Soviet empire. Addressing the turmoil in these countries may require the understanding of the West. Russia is also rich in natural resources that are drawing the investments of many Western companies. Understanding Russian economic development and how Russia deals with outside influences will help Westerners deal with and understand Russians and the nations on the periphery of greater Russia.
One way to gain a greater understanding of Russia’s economic development is to study the parallel development of accounting theory and practices. Wolodymyr Motyka’s book is an important contribution to the body of literature about the development of Russian accounting.
As the title explains, the two volumes of the book are an annotated bibliography of Russian language publications on accounting from 17361917. The book consists of two different parts: an annotated bibliography of articles related to accounting published in Russia before the Russian Revolution of 1917 and an essay about the development of accounting in Russia accompanied by tables and appendices. The articles included in the bibliography were selected based on the title of the article, any description of the article available in the literature, and any additional information available in the source material. If there was any indication that the article dealt with accounting issues, it was included in the bibliography. Many of the articles selected were from booksellers’ catalogs and other sources where the original work no longer exists. Where additional information about the contents of the article is available, the author provides a short description. Most references, however, involve little more than the title of the work, the author, and whatever references are available to identify the work. For those conversant in Russian and the various languages of the peoples included in the greater Russian Empire, a transliteration of the original material is also included.
The articles are listed in chronological order. By perusing the titles, the reader can gain an understanding of the various external influences on the development of Russian accounting theory and how these influences became greater as Russia increased trade with outside nations. The articles also give the reader a sense of the development of various industries in Russia. Many of the articles deal with accounting for agriculture, railroads, banking and creditloan societies, and government entities. This information is also detailed in the Thematic Indexes of the Articles.
Most readers will find the Introductory Essays and Appendices included in the work of greater interest. Motyka identified three areas important in the development of Russian accounting: Western European influences and government edicts issued by various Tsars and Tsarinas, the growth of accounting education in various educational institutions and trade schools, and the development of accounting literature. Motyka’s essays give the reader an indepth understanding of both Lhe influences driving the development of accounting and why those influences were not sufficient to overcome the Russian animosity toward the adoption of outside accounting practices. As a result of these factors, Russia still does not have a wellestablished accounting profession. Understanding the reasons accounting did not develop before the Russian Revolution helps the reader understand the factors preventing the development of an independent accounting establishment.
This work is a valuable addition to the body of knowledge about the history of accounting in Russia. The essays with accompanying tables and appendices illuminate the growth of accounting in Russia while the annotated bibliography of articles complements that understanding. The lessons about the slow growth of modern accounting techniques in prerevolutionary Russia provide a model that may be illustrative of modern Russia and illustrative to other less developed societies. Accounting historians and those working to develop accounting systems in nonWestern cultures will find this work to be a valuable source of information.
