Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

State intervention in commercial education: the case of the Portuguese School of Commerce, 1759

2007; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 12; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1032373207072808

1749-3374

Lúcia Lima Rodrigues, Russell Craig, Delfina Gomes,

History of Colonial Brazil

Prior to the eighteenth century, commercial (including accounting) knowledge was acquired principally from on-the-job training and courses conducted in private schools. However, in eighteenth century Europe, the State began to participate directly in the provision of commercial (including accounting) education through the establishment of public schools of commerce.This article explores changes in commercial education in eighteenth-century Portugal and the role the state played in those changes. It attempts to falsify the claim that the Portuguese School of Commerce, established in Lisbon in 1759, was Europe’s first official, government-sponsored school to offer formal instruction in commerce, including in double-entry bookkeeping. The archival and literature searches conducted, and the various other enquiries we have made are such that we are unable to falsify the claim.The results point to the likelihood that the Portuguese School of Commerce was the first government sponsored business school in Europe.