多元信用文化、价值工作与专业价值观构建——以20世纪初上海地区会计诚信观的形成为例

Multiple Credit Cultures,Value Work,and the Construction of Professional Values-The Formation of the Accounting Integrity Concept in Early 20^(th)Century Shanghai

专业价值观对专业人士获得社会认可和价值合法性至关重要。运用历史档案和质性研究方法,以20世纪初上海地区会计诚信观的形成过程为例,阐述专业价值观构建的过程及机制的分析发现,行动者选择吸纳更广泛社会环境下的多元信用文化要素,采取锚定、延伸、传承和评判的价值工作,解释与应用多元信用文化构建诚信观。其中:锚定工作将“证社会之信用”作为会计师工作的首要原则;延伸工作强调会计工作可以解决紧迫的现实经济与政治问题;传承工作引用传统的道德文化展示会计价值观,引起社会公众的共鸣;评判工作使会计专业价值观与其他相似的价值形式区分开来。行动者通过集体实践增强诚信观的凝聚力,最终形成会计专业价值观并初建了社会公共信用基础。

Professional values are essential for professionals to gain social recognition and legitimacy.While existing studies have considered the role of cultural elements in constructing professional values,they have mostly focused on a single cultural element and overlooked the multiplicity of cultural elements in the broader society.Based on historical archival work on the development of accounting integrity in early 20th century Shanghai,this paper investigates the process and mechanisms of professional value construction in a multicultural environment.With the development of national capitalism,organizational innovation,and the reform of the accounting system,society was in transition from personal credit to material credit.Facing fragmented and diverse views of credibility,accountants selectively drew on cultural elements to construct their professional values.They engaged in anchoring,extending,and inheriting elements that were consistent with social public credibility to solidify accounting values,while also critically judging inconsistent elements to reinforce accounting values.Anchoring work identified“public”and“independence”as the core elements of accounting values to establish lasting professional values.Extending work combined intellectual trends and cultural ideals such as“accountancy saving the nation”and“political integrity”to strengthen anchoring work.Inheriting work drew on historical cultural elements such as sincerity,trust,and fairness to convey the central mission of the accounting profession using local language and narratives,facilitating audience recognition and acceptance.Judging work criticized the credibility view based on relationships and acquaintances in traditional culture and proposed the necessity to establish public credibility as a replacement.Accountants implemented these elements into collective practices to materialize professional values.As a result,accountants became gradually involved in economic and social life by providing third-party assurance and enhancing the public credibility of the broader society,which in turn made accountants an integral part of societal development.This study elucidates the links between professional values and the broader socio-cultural,political,and economic context,and advances our understanding of how to construct professional values by integrating diverse cultural elements.