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It's a gift – Samuel Pepys and Sir William Warren, an account of gifts, bribes and kickbacks

Karen McBride (School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Business and Law, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK)

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

ISSN: 0951-3574

Article publication date: 19 October 2022

Issue publication date: 4 April 2023

336

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate an individual’s boundary crossing with regard to bribery, gifts and favouritism in rewarding contracts. Samuel Pepys’s diary was written in the 17th century and through detailed accounts gives insight into his inherent professionalism and his negative opinions around bribery but also his acceptance of “gifts” and awarding of contracts to “friends”.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses a narrative approach to study a detailed and reflective personal diary identifying the diarist’s self-exploration and attitudes around the receipt of gifts and the awarding of contracts. This microhistory is presented with a narrative account of a case study of the relationship between the diarist, Pepys and a supplier, Sir W. Warren.

Findings

The diary illustrates how Pepys crosses these boundaries and how the lack of accountability within his role enables him to do this. This detailed study enables answers to questions that with time, legislation and lack of acceptability, have become more difficult to ask and to answer, about the crossing of boundaries and ethical decisions around the acceptance of bribes and kickbacks.

Originality/value

A contribution of this paper is the use of a diary, at least a diary as self-reflective as Pepys’s written up as a narrative account. The use of a detailed diary in an accounting microhistory of this nature gives insight and assists in answering difficult to ask questions around personal motivations for bribery and corruption and contributes in this area. The research contributes in developing research around boundaries and the corruption equation using the insight gleaned from this narrative account.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author thanks her daughter Francesca McBride for giving up some of her summer holiday to assist with data collection.

Citation

McBride, K. (2023), "It's a gift – Samuel Pepys and Sir William Warren, an account of gifts, bribes and kickbacks", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 913-932. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-07-2021-5382

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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