ACCOUNTING STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY AND TECHNICAL INSTITUTE IN NEW ZEALAND

The first year intake of accounting students at Auckland University and the three technical institutes that serve the Auckland region were surveyed to find out: what characteristics differentiate university and technical institute students; their reasons for choosing to major in accounting; their perceptions of their own course and institution vis-á-vis the alternative course and institution; and the relative importance of family, friends and school personnel as influences on their choice of tertiary education. In general, university accounting students are significantly older (due mainly to the fact that university students tend to remain longer at secondary school), are better qualified academically and come from families higher on the socioeconomic scale. It was also found that university students perceive their course to have higher status, while stated reasons given by technical institute students revolve around the practicability and vocational orientation of the course. Parents, particularly father, and friends exert far more influence on educational and vocational decision-making than any other source, including school personnel.     

PRIOR ACCOUNTING EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE IN A FIRST-LEVEL UNIVERSITY COURSE IN NEW ZEALAND

This New Zealand study examined whether prior accounting education at school had a positive effect on performance in the corresponding first-level university course. The research question was tested using an ANCOVA. Proxies for academic ability were used as covariates so as to eliminate systematic bias in the samples. Prior study at the Bursary level carried a positive benefit. The findings were in agreement with the thesis that the level of conceptual accounting thought acquired at school, rather than the ability to manipulate figures in accordance with mechanical bookkeeping procedures, affected subsequent performance at university.     

CLASS REPRODUCTION IN PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT: EXAMINING THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION

This paper argues that the application forms of the ‘big-five’ accounting firms discriminate against applicants from working-class communities. While issues of discrimination in relation to race and gender have been considered in the accounting literature, discrimination and class in a contemporary setting is relatively under-explored. A historical analysis of the formation of the accounting profession in Scotland serves to illustrate the historical importance of class in controlling entry to the profession. During this period professions such as accounting came to play an increasingly important role in the reproduction of class from one generation to the next. However, in a contemporary setting processes of class reproduction are subtler. Initially access to university education was a key way of controlling access to professions. However, with the growth of a mass education system other strategies of reproduction have emerged. These are commonly based on an emphasis of charismatic qualities, also known as generic or transferable skills. This paper presents an analysis of the application forms of the big-five accounting firms and argues that the selection of future employees on the basis of these forms will favour applicants from the middle-class.     

THE SHARING OF MEANING BETWEEN ACCOUNTING STUDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION

This study examines the extent to which accounting students and practising accountants share the same meanings of fundamental accounting concepts. In doing so, it provides evidence on the suitability of using accounting students as surrogates for accounting practitioners in the study of connotative meaning in accounting. Using the semantic differential technique, the “cognitive structure” (the structure within which meaning is held) as well as the positioning or placement of concepts within the structure were determined for both groups. Each group was found to have a similar cognitive structure (a three dimensional structure comparable to the classic structure found in the psychology literature, Osgood, Suci and Tannenbaum, 1957). However, the placement or positioning of concepts by students within that shared structure was significantly different to that of accounting practitioners.     

THE PLACE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE TRAINING OF ACCOUNTANTS IN NEW ZEALAND

The purpose of this study was to identify those communication skills most needed by accountants, so providing information which could be useful for accounting educators when designing programmes. The survey showed that practising accountants perceived wide differences between the desired and demonstrated communication skills of their new graduates. Academics, too, perceived serious deficiencies in their students. The conclusion is that academics, for the sake of their students and the accounting profession, should endeavour to increase the amount of time and expert effort put into communication skills in their university programmes.     

A BUDGETHOLDING EXPERIMENT IN NEW ZEALAND

This paper provides a case study of a New Zealand health centre which embarked on a budgetholding (similar to UK fundholding) trial in 1992. The case study is grounded in the changes underway in the New Zealand public sector and in the management and organisation of health care. The case discusses the impact of the budgetholding trial on the practice and reflects on the future of budgetholding in New Zealand. Initial indications are that general practitioners are moving away from practice based budgetholding and are combining into Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) to facilitate contract negotiations and to provide additional leverage in dealing with secondary care providers.     

EXPLAINING INTRAPERIOD ACCOUNTING CHOICES: THE REPORTING OF CURRENCY TRANSLATION GAINS AND LOSSES

Prior to the introduction of an Australian Accounting Standard relating to the treatment of foreign currency items, we find agreement among firms on the method of translating foreign subsidiaries' assets and liabilities, but no such agreement on the method of reporting the resulting gain or loss. The reporting choice represents an intraperiod accounting decision. We show that this choice is a function of the demand for ex ante optimal risk sharing agreements between management and shareholders, although auditor identity and firm size are also found to influence the choice of reporting method. We model the policy choice as both a dichotomous and a more finely graded three-way problem, introducing to the accounting literature an experimental technique designed to test for the existence of any mutual dependence between alternatives.     

THE VALUATION OF NEW ZEALAND UNDERWRITING AGREEMENTS

Almost all cash issues by New Zealand listed public companies are by way of a rights issue. This paper examines the terms of 143 issues between 1976 and 1984. Of those issues 86 were underwritten and 57 were not. The paper is concerned with two questions. The first question examines whether there are fundamental differences in the terms of the issues that explain why some issues were underwritten and some were not. The second question examines the extent to which the underwriters' fee corresponds to the value of a put option, where that value is given by an adaptation of the Black Scholes formula. The conclusions are that there are differences in the terms of issues that are underwritten, compared with those that are not, and that the underwriters' fee is substantially in excess of the Black Scholes put value.     

INTERESTS AND THE PROFESSION-STATE DYNAMIC: EXPLAINING THE EMERGENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD

This paper seeks to understand the professionalisation project of accountants by historically 'following' the organised, contingent interests of state agencies, professional elites, business and community organisations. Drawing upon recent research on the accounting profession that is grounded in the work of Weber, Marx and Foucault, professions are seen as self-interested transnational collec-tives whose internal modes of membership control and external relationships with other organised interests are both structured and subject to continual renegotiation and change. This particular framing of professional associations is illustrated by documenting the emergence of the Australian Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in 1983.     

HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTING AS AN INTERFACE ACTIVITY: THE HOME,THE ECONOMY AND GENDER

Accounting is an interface activity, an endeavour that allows objects and artefacts to attain value (in use or exchange) across the boundaries of different domains. Accounting achieves this transferability for objects; the concept of accountability does the same for people, as peoples' levels of accountability and responsibility are implicated in assessments of their value and in whether this value is recognised in different spheres of life. The focus of the paper is on accounting and accountabilities at home, through exploring their impact on the interfaces between gender, the home and the economy. This exploration is conducted through an analysis of instructional texts on financial management in the home. It is argued that practices of accounting and accountability are deeply implicated in gender relations, in the ideology of the home and in maintaining the separation between the private and the public realms of activity.     

VALUE FOR MONEY AUDITING IN NEW ZEALAND: COMPETING FOR CONTROL IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

This paper provides an overview of the changing role of performance or Value for Money (VFM) auditing in the New Zealand public sector. In many countries there has been a strong interest in public sector reform and the place of accounting technologies such as VFM. A theoretical framework, derived from public policy literature, is used to explain the changing role and relevance of VFM auditing in New Zealand. Within the policy process problems, solutions and opportunities are relatively separate streams. Expert groups or epistemic communities compete to define the problem and to advocate their particular solutions. The Office of the Auditor-General is presented as an epistemic community within the New Zealand policy process and the technology of VFM as a solution to the problems of the day. However, the Treasury (NZ) also developed a policy solution involving radical restructure of the public sector, challenging the existing role of VFM. In response, the Audit Office re-defined the role of VFM auditing as a service to the parliamentary select committees. The changing role of VFM illustrates the flexible and the contestable nature of accounting technologies and casts some doubt on the argument that the growth of accounting in the public sector is inevitable.     

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING FIRMS VERSUS INDIGENOUS AUDITORS: INTRA-PROFESSIONAL CONFLICT IN THE GREEK AUDITING PROFESSION, 1990-1993

Jurisdictional claims over statutory audits in Greece have prompted a sustained and bitter intraprofessional conflict spanning the last 30 years. This paper examines a major episode during the climax of the struggle in the early 1990s. The main rival camps were a group of indigenous auditors—who had the legal monopoly of practice—and local branches of international accounting firms—who were excluded from the market for statutory audits. The latter fought for reform. The conflict took place against the backdrop of advancing neoliberal discourses within government stimulated by a desire for greater political and economic integration within the European Union and world-wide. The struggle ended victoriously for the international accounting firms, culminating in the “liberalisation” of the Greek auditing profession in 1992. The paper analyses the state-profession axis to expose the allegiances of conflicting professional groups to major political parties, as they strove to win vital political support to attack or defend contested territories. Of particular interest is the complex political manoeuvring employed by the government in order to grant international accountants easy access to the market for statutory audits. A secondary objective is to offer insights into the factors and conditions that precipitated and enabled a radical reform of the institution of Greek auditing. For example, the quest for the “liberalisation” was eagerly supported by the Confederation of Greek Industries. In addition, representative organisations of the international accountancy profession showed unreserved allegiance to international accounting firms and became actively involved in the conflict. Overall, the analysis shows that the structure of the auditing profession in Greece is the outcome of a dynamic interplay of economic, social, and political forces at both the national and the international level. Within these various interests, state agencies and professional groups play a prominent role.     

DECENTRALIZATION, ACCOUNTING CONTROLS AND PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS: A NEW ZEALAND EMPIRICAL STUDY

This paper reports the results of a study which was conducted in five departments of the New Zealand Government and investigated the relationships between (a) decentralization and the use of accounting control systems, (b) the use of accounting control systems and district office performance, and (c) the decentralization and district ofice performance. The performance was assessed using the managers' perception of their district office (unit's) performance. Data for the study were collected from 59 district office managers using a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that an increased decentralization is associated with a greater managerial use of accounting control systems which, in turn, is associated with improved district office performance.