Accounting and organizational system of spanish railway concessionaires

NORTE (1900-1924)

Abstract

The Spanish railway sector has been prolifically studied from different fields, due to the important role it has played in its contribution to economic progress. However, the aspects of business organization and management, on the one hand, and accounting, on the other, of railway companies have been relatively little dealt with, which is certainly paradoxical if we take into account the contribution of the sector to the development of business and accounting science. The company analyzed in this research is the largest private company in Spain: La Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España (NORTE). The main objective is to analyze its accounting information from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, and its organizational structure from different points of view and in a dynamic way. The structure of the research is as follows. After an initial chapter in which the objectives and methods of the research are established, the second chapter analyzes the organizational, management and accounting developments in the most influential countries in the sector, while the third chapter gives a historical sketch of the railroad sector in Spain. The body of the work is constituted by the fourth section, which analyzes the organizational and management system of the company NORTE, and the fifth section, where an analysis of its accounting system is carried out. The work closes with a critical evaluation of the collaboration and management agreements, and the failed merger attempts, between MZA and NORTE. The main conclusion of the paper is that the economic-financial situation of the company would have improved if it had been financed with privileged shares rather than by issuing loans (counterfactual scenario). On the other hand, NORTE was one of the first companies on which financial statement audits were carried out and on which a complete accounting system was developed. The last conclusion is that the company's documentation offers a very systematic form of coding, providing accounting records with a high level of information.