Oxford Scholar Uncovers Inventory Methods of Nineteenth Century Britain

Oxford Scholar Uncovers Inventory Methods of Nineteenth Century Britain

By Ruixue Du, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Accounting

As the research fellow from Menlo College for the 2022 Summer Research Institute of Harris Manchester College at Oxford University, I took advantage of this opportunity to work on my research project, “The Origin and Early Adoption of LIFO in the United States and Britain.” This project is a comparative study of the LIFO (Last-in First-out) inventory method in the United States and Britain, focusing on identifying the underlying factors that led to the creation and early adoption of LIFO in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Although the timeline for the development of LIFO for tax purposes in the United States is well documented in the accounting literature, limited information is available from Britain.

While at Oxford, I was able to connect with one of the economic historians at the Oxford Center for Economic and Social History (OCESH), and he has given me valuable suggestions on my research.

I also benefited enormously from my work in The Bodleian Libraries at University of Oxford, which has an amazing collection of the British Parliamentary Papers dating back to 1801. Some have been digitized, but not all. With the help of the librarians from Harris Manchester College, Faculty of Law (the Oxford law school), and Saïd Business School, I was given access to the physical and digital collections to get insights on the timing, industry, and scale of the LIFO inventory method in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Britain.

For example, I learned from the librarian at the Faculty of Law that I can actually conduct a timing and frequency search of a given keyword in Hansard, which is a database of the official report of all UK Parliamentary debates since 1803. By searching “stock based method,” which was the name used for LIFO in the 1800s, I was able to retrieve the timing and frequency of that keyword in the Parliamentary debates and therefore further identify the emergence of LIFO in the UK. Like a wizard at Hogwarts, I suddenly had information at my fingertips!

At Oxford, surrounded by dining halls, dorms, and chapels that date back to as early as the 1100s, I felt like I was living in history. The weather was beautiful. Besides spending time in the libraries, we had a campus tour, joined an Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, and went punting on River Cherwell. I had a wonderful time at Oxford as a Harris Manchester research fellow this summer and I am very grateful to Menlo College for providing me this opportunity.

MEET THE AUTHOR

What do you consider your hometowns?

Jilin, China and Blacksburg, Virginia. I was born in Jilin. I lived in Blacksburg for six and a half years while getting my master’s and doctorate degrees from Virginia Tech.

What are your most important tips for research?

Collaborate with coauthors from different disciplines. Use apps such as Trello or To Do to organize projects and deadlines.

What do you do outside of work?

Travel and cooking

What surprised you most about Menlo College?

I was surprised to learn the incredible internship opportunities available to our students at Menlo. Hearing students telling me about their internship and full-time job offers has definitely given me a moment of joy.