From double-entry bookkeeping and ledger to blockchain technology: New frontiers for accounting information systems

Abstract

The paper investigates the current state of studies on double-entry bookkeeping and ledgers in accounting through a bibliometric analysis covering the1990-2021period. The study allows an interpretation of accounting information systems as they evolve, due to the impetus of recent, disruptive information technology. The authors used a sample of 230 publications, collected from the Web of Sci-ence, and adopted VOSviewer software to illustrate different relational techniques: citation, co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling analyses. The results highlight the emergence of recent research streams that are weakly connected to the foundation of modern accounting, albeit sharing the same roots with seminal historical accounting contributions in terms of trustworthiness, moral-ity, and communication. This study's main contribution, based on its findings, is a better understanding of the growing interest in double-entry bookkeeping and ledg-er, focusing on blockchain and its dimensions. Potentially, the study can shed light on the possible implications of new technologies for accounting and bookkeeping. The universality of accounting language is called upon to describe new "genealo-gies of calculation" by converging professional and academic efforts in a field that can benefit extensively from a transdisciplinary approach to research.