Restraint And Freedom:Research On The Labor Process Of Accountants Under The Dual Governance System

The CPA industry is an indispensable part of China ’ s economic system reform and social development.It plays a special role in ensuring the healthy operation of the market,controlling corporate risks,and judging the quality of corporate assets.According to the“ Accounting Industry Talent Development Plan(2021-2025)” statistics,as of the end of2020,China ’ s CPA industry employees nearly 400,000 people,accounting firm partners(shareholders)36,000 people.Certified public accountants working in accounting firms are usually labeled ’ high-end jobs ’,’ career elite ’ and so on.Although scholars in the field of financial sociology have focused on the accounting group,the research on the labor process of accounting firms is still a less clear ’ black box ’.This thesis uses participatory observation method and in-depth interview method,and uses the basic perspective of classical labor process theory to investigate and analyze the labor process of accountants in accounting firms,focusing on revealing how the two dual governance systems of bureaucracy and project system work together and shape the labor process of accountants,as well as the response strategy of accountants themselves as actors.It is found that the governance form of bureaucracy presents the characteristics of pyramid hierarchical structure,department setting according to industry division,strict promotion ladder,clear salary incentive system and standard process of technical control.The governance form of project system presents the characteristics of group cooperation,flexible boundary,time control and cost constraint.Accountants are in the vertical bureaucracy management mechanism and horizontal project system operation mode.The two governance mechanisms work together in the labor process of accountants.The mutual embedding of compulsory discipline and work makes accountants face the pressure of double work.KPI assessment and survival pressure make accountants fall into the tournament mechanism with performance appraisal as the goal.The goal-oriented working mechanism creates job flexibility for accountants,and the improvement of professional technology produces more job opportunities for accountants.Accountants strategically play their own subjectivity and explore ways to meet their own interests and development needs.The accountants actively resisted by ’ voting with their feet ’,adjusting the pace of work,and changing to affiliate system.However,due to the limited platform and the influence of human feelings within the organization,some accountants were forced to compromise and choose to continue to work in accounting firms.Compared with the existing research,this study integrates the unique dual governance system of accounting firms into the study of labor process,discusses the labor characteristics of accountants under the dual governance system,and how accountants create ’ labor consent ’and create professional survival strategies.As knowledge workers who need professional knowledge and skills,accountants ’ labor process presents different characteristics from other elite groups.Therefore,this study provides a differentiated path and framework for understanding the labor form of employees in financial organizations from the perspective of governance structure.