Didier Bensadon, former scholar of the IHA, defended his PhD in Management on December 11, 2007 in Nantes at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme on the subject of : « Group accounting in France (1929-1985): Analysis of the introduction and diffusion process of an accounting technique », under the supervision of Yannick Lemarchand. Didier Bensadon obtained the mention Trés Honorable avec les félicitations du jury à l’unanimité. His thesis is based on Pechiney casework.

Summary :

This research analyses the introduction and diffusion process of group accounting in France. Through the analysis of archives from companies, public or private organisms and through the study of accounting handbooks and treaties, three periods have been identified.

During the first one, 1929 -1945, managers and stakeholders expressed the need of accounting information on the group. However even if group accounting is already practised in the United States and United Kingdom, it isn’t well-known by French accountancy practitioners and consequently is not applied in France, where accounting standards can’t be found.

The second period is from 1945 to 1968. The French accountancy practitioners became interested by group accounting as soon as 1951. In the early 1960s, managers had to face the problem of subsidiaries tracking; they also wanted to follow the requirements of American banks and financial markets. They consequently became familiar with group accounting. The French state tackled the issue and, in 1968, the Conseil national de la comptabilité set up a methodology for group accounts applied to French companies.

During the third period, 1968-1985, the Commission des operations de bourse played a crucial part in the diffusion of group accounting. Congresses, accounting reviews, and the accounting education field took part in this diffusion of this technique. The law of January, 3 1983 made it compulsory for public companies to disclosure their financial consolidated statements. The law of January, 3 1985 broadened this obligation to all companies, after the transcription of the seventh European Economic Community directive in the French corporate law.