Re-examining the determinants of barter accounting in isolated communities in colonial societies

Abstract

This contribution seeks to re-examine the determinants of barter accounting practices based on a critical review of contributions on the subject, including a recent contribution by Bloom and Solotko (2004). In particular, it addresses the tendency for studies of this kind, especially of accounting practices in isolated colonial communities, to emphasise the economic determinants of barter and to focus attention on economic determinants to explain the structure and usage of surviving barter accounting records. Through the use of a case study set within isolated pastoral communities in a colonial society, a general call is made for broader assessments of the factors impacting on the use and nature of barter accounting practices, among other accounting practices, within local, time-specific contexts, with implications for enhancing an understanding of accounting's past and present.