Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Making oneself at home with numbers: financial reporting from an ethnographic perspective

2011; Wiley; Volume: 19; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1469-8676.2011.00174.x

1469-8676

Daniel Seabra Lopes,

Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance

Social AnthropologyVolume 19, Issue 4 p. 463-476 Making oneself at home with numbers: financial reporting from an ethnographic perspective Daniel Seabra Lopes, Daniel Seabra Lopes Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology (SOCIUS), School of Economics and Management, Technical University of Lisbon, Rua Miguel Lupi n° 20, 1249–078 Lisbon, Portugal, dseabralopes@gmail.comSearch for more papers by this author Daniel Seabra Lopes, Daniel Seabra Lopes Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology (SOCIUS), School of Economics and Management, Technical University of Lisbon, Rua Miguel Lupi n° 20, 1249–078 Lisbon, Portugal, dseabralopes@gmail.comSearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 November 2011 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8676.2011.00174.xCitations: 3Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Quantitative reporting plays an important role in modern corporate organisations and most particularly in financial institutions, where it has been argued that large-scale statistical information has thoroughly replaced more local and qualitative forms of knowledge. Based on an ethnographic study of financial accounting procedures, this paper analyses how quantitative information is used by banking risk analysts, demonstrating that there is an inescapable qualitative dimension to every form of quantitative production, deeply related to particular techniques, expectations and interpretations that actors mobilise in order to make themselves at home with the numbers. The article also demonstrates that quantification does not just represent a means of reducing qualitative information to numbers and codes, but rather represents a means of converting information (be it qualitative or quantitative) into ever-changing standards and conventions in an organisational environment marked by growing concerns over issues of accountability, governance and transparency. Citing Literature Volume19, Issue4Special Issue: Rethinking InstitutionsNovember 2011Pages 463-476 RelatedInformation