ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to analyze the main factors and most relevant events of the development of accounting and business economics in Spain. The period taken into consideration in our analysis includes the years between the first scientific approaches in accounting in the nineteenth century and the consolidation of business economics as an autonomous and a separate scientific and academic discipline in Spain (in the late 1970s and early 1980s). Thus, we will present the origins and main reasons explaining the current situation of accounting (Contabilidad) and business economics (Economía de la Empresa) in Spain, considering their common roots and their present status as separate autonomous disciplines. The chapter consists of four main sections. The first section sets the historical scene for the emergence of a scientific discipline of business economics, identifies the main factors determining this emergence and the scientific evolution of business economics, and looks at the influence of accounting on this process. This section also examines the relationship between accounting and business economics until the latter became a separate subject. The second section considers the state of accounting education and research in the 1960s and 1970s, when important economic, social, and political changes took place in Spain with the beginnings of transition from the Franco dictatorship to a democratic system. The third section studies the impact of Spain’s membership of the European Union and the adaptation of Spanish financial accounting systems and structures to the European directives and practices. The fourth section reviews the current state and evolution of accounting and business economics teaching and research within the higher education sector in Spain.
