Accounting for cholera in Europe in the nineteenth century (1854-1894): A comparative analysis between Italy and the United Kingdom

This doctoral thesis investigates the relationship between accounting and public health management during the cholera epidemics that afflicted Europe in the nineteenth century. Combining archival research and econometric analysis, it examines how accounting systems informed governmental decision-making, contributed to the organisation of health responses, and shaped the legitimacy of public institutions under crisis conditions. The thesis is articulated into three complementary studies. The first analyses the 1855 cholera outbreak in Bologna, within the Papal States, illustrating how medico-administrative accounting practices became a vehicle for power reconfiguration, enabling the medical elite to replace ecclesiastical authorities in local governance. The second study employs a difference-in-differences econometric model to assess the impact of the 1888 Crispi–Pagliani Reform, demonstrating that the new pyramidal reporting system significantly reduced cholera mortality by improving the central government’s capacity to allocate medical personnel effectively. The final study compares the management of the 1854–55 epidemics in Victorian London and Bourbon Naples, highlighting how divergent cultural, institutional, and educational settings shaped distinct approaches to epidemic control and accountability. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the field of accounting history by revealing how calculative and reporting practices not only served as instruments of control and coordination but also acted as technologies of governance, mediating between science, politics, and society.