Accounting and the Economic Reforms in New Zealand: A Study of the State/Profession Relationship

This paper examines some aspects of the developing relationship between the state and the accounting profession in New Zealand focusing on a period when a major programme of economic reform was implemented. The paper suggests that accounting facilitated the macro-micro interface by providing the link between the set of values highlighted through the reform process and the internal workings of organisations while benefiting from the involvement in the reform process. It also points out that the ideological shift and the associated values entrenched in the reform programme provided the environment that motivated and enabled the profession to introduce significant strategic and structural changes. Through the reform process, the accounting profession in New Zealand has changed from the traditional ideal type of established profession to a profession that can adapt to a changing environment. This strategy suggests the emergence of the accounting profession as a new group of "organic intellectuals", that is responsive to the needs of its members and the ever changing surroundings.