Economia Aziendale and financial valuations in Italy: Some contradictions and insights

This paper analyses the development of Economia Aziendale as a peculiar Italian theoretical construct, arguing that the current model — at least since Zappa’s ideas of 1927 — is not compatible with Italian practice, nor with the largely successful efforts of the legal profession to stifle government attempts to increase flexibility and relevance. More precisely, two key research questions are addressed. First, is the strong theoretical tradition of Economia Aziendale consistent with the prevalent adoption of the historical cost principle in Italian financial accounting in the twentieth century? Second, how has the historical cost principle achieved this prevalence? We show that the theoretical tradition is clearly inconsistent with the prevalence of the historical cost principle, and provide a coherent rationale explaining this outcome.