The effect of accounting knowledge on the use of opportunity costs in resource allocation decisions

پژوهش نامه مدیریت تحول

Article 6, Volume 1, Spring & Summer 2009 - Serial Number 1, September 2009, Pages 113-132   

Document Type: Articles

DOI: 10.22067/pmt.v1i1.2259

Authors

Farzaneh Nassirzadeh^{* 1}; Reza Torabi Farsani²

¹Assistance professor of accounting in Ferdowsi university of Mashhad

²Master of accounting in Ferdowsi university of Mashhad

Abstract

Information processing theory suggests that knowledge structure in the long-term memory is formed as a result of education and affects all mental processes. Based on this theory, individuals who have received formal accounting training are expected to have accounting knowledge structure stored. Since accounting literature is mostly focused on the financial reporting and general accepted accounting principle (GAAP), the opportunity costs is normally ignored. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between individual accounting knowledge and degree of encountering opportunity costs in resource allocation decisions, both individually and at professional level. The results of our survey research suggest that individuals with high-accounting knowledge pay less attention to opportunity costs in resource allocation decisions at professional level in comparison to those of lowaccounting knowledge. The research also indicates that at individual level, there is no significant difference between the decisions made by two groups of accountants. This study further revealed that considering opportunity costs in resource allocation decisions depends, to some extent, on the individuals’ accounting knowledge.

Keywords

knowledge structure; opportunity cost; information processing theory; cognitive

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