Accounting and Chilean pension reform

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to shed light on accounting's role in bringing about a pension reform project in Chile under the authoritarian regime of Augusto Pinochet. The paper aims to reveal the specific role that the pension reform played in the regime's broader ideological goals, thus highlighting the need to reflect upon its origins when considering the reform as a template for pension change in other parts of the world. Design/methodology/approach - The study brings together archival research showing accounting in its relation to broader structural and institutional structures, to present an alternative history of the development and implementation of the pension reform. Findings - The pension reform was not merely a rationally chosen economic reform project. It was part of a vast modernization and institutionalization programme to change Chilean society and the mindset of its citizens. Accounting played a significant role in both the administration and functioning of the project, and in enabling the broader modernizations to take hold. Practical implications - The Chilean pension model is held up as a fully‐exportable template to other jurisdictions. The study reveals how reflection is required to determine its suitability and potential for success in other situations, given the very specific role it was intended to play in its original setting. Originality/value - This paper represents an under‐researched geographic setting, and also questions this much‐lauded pension model's appropriateness for other settings.

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