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The Mind's Eye of Reform: The ICC's Bureau of Statistics and Accounts and a Vision of Regulation, 1887–1940

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Paul J. Miranti Jr
Affiliation:
Paul J. Miranti, Jr., is assistant professor of accounting at the School of Business, Rutgers University.

Abstract

By examining the relationship between measurement and regulation at the Interstate Commerce Commission between 1887 and 1940, the following article sheds light on a little-studied component of the commission's work. It argues that the nature of the accounting and statistical tools used by the ICC had an impact on the regulatory process, specifically that the difficulties encountered in the development of accurate and relevant railroad statistics often undermined the agency's ability to achieve its regulatory goals. At the same time, a changing economic, political, and social environment affected the regulators' perception of the type of data necessary to gain control of the industry's structure.

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Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1989

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