Search

This study examines the learning experiences of government-sponsored second-year international accounting students at a host university in New Zealand. There is an expectation that being financially advantaged, government-sponsored students should navigate better in the new learning environment. Nonetheless, the results show that they experienced the typical situational challenges faced by other international students in foreign universities. These challenges were so significant that were not even mitigated by having scholarships or previous excellent academic records. The implicit expectation is for the home institution and government sponsor to have a pro-active role in collaborating with the host university in the foreign country to provide pre- and post-departure support. Academic adjustment is a gradual process; thus, future research may include international students at different stages of study to better understand their coping strategies and their relationships with academic achievements.

This study examines the employability skills of accountants cited in job advertisements in Australia and New Zealand, as they indicate the skills that are most valued by employers. The results indicate interpersonal and personal are the most frequently requested skills. Of the 31 identified skills, the most sought-after skills included the ability to collaborate with colleagues, present, discuss and defend views, and having a positive attitude. Overall, a team player with a positive attitude and good communication skills appeared to be the most valued behavioural skill as perceived by employers. This reflects the changing work of accountants, from being 'backroom number crunchers' to engaged business professionals. Although the results indicate some differences in skills requested across the five accounting occupational subgroups, interpersonal and personal skills again stood out as the most frequently cited skills. The results indicate the importance of incorporating such skills development in the accounting curriculum.

This study examines the impact of learning styles on academic performance using major assessment methods (examinations and assignments including multiple-choice and constructed response questions (CRQs)) in an introductory accounting course. Students' learning styles were assessed using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory Version 3.1. The results indicate that students' learning styles, after controlling for other variables, are associated with academic performance, particularly, in the final examination including both formats, multiple-choice questions and CRQs. Students who exhibit the "assimilating" learning style appear to perform better in some of the assessments than students with "diverging" or "accommodating" learning styles. The findings have implications for designing assessments to ensure that they are not biased towards particular learning styles which would improve their validity and fairness.

Copyright of Public Money & Management is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study analyses fraudsters and their motives in New Zealand's post-colonial times, using Papers Past, from 1840 to 1939. The aim is to understand the past societal context concerning fraud crimes. The historical analysis reveals that fraud was reported as early as 1840, and since then, reports of fraud have grown rapidly. False pretences and representation were the most common types of fraud, and there was a greater proportion of male than female perpetrators. Female criminality was the main subject of discussion during the period studied, and often biased perceptions regarding how typical women should behave were expressed. The motives of perpetrators of fraud were mainly to maintain cohesion for the family. Overall, the motivations for committing fraud indicated social struggles rather than greed. There is also some evidence for how fraudsters from privileged social classes received lighter sentencing regardless of the grave nature of the offence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine whether the publicly-available accounting information about infrastructural assets and other information in New Zealand local government's financial statements is helpful for the assessment of investment in infrastructural assets. Their analysis indicates that information on annual net investments for infrastructural assets is useful for understanding the level and type of infrastructural assets investments and how these assets are funded. Further, such investment focuses more on visible infrastructural assets than invisible infrastructural assets. This study contributes to the literature on the reporting and management of public infrastructure assets. Local government in many countries is responsible for investing and maintaining infrastructural assets and is often accused of under-investing in these assets. Information published in local government financial statements can assist in assessing the level of funding sources for infrastructural assets and the choices that local government makes in relation to which types of assets are funded. This paper's finding that local government allocates more funding to visible, rather than invisible, infrastructural assets has important policy implications for the sustainability of invisible infrastructural assets and will be of interest to both local and central governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the practical efficacy of statistical corporate failure models in improving auditors' going concern assessment. It also aims to examine auditors' perceptions of corporate failure models as an analytical procedure in this context. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilises a survey questionnaire with a case study component to evaluate the practical value of corporate failure models for assessing going concern, and to examine auditors' perceptions of such models as an analytical procedure for assessing going concern. Findings – The results indicate that corporate failure models facilitate the formation of more appropriate going concern opinions and increase judgment consensus. Auditors perceive such models as useful in obtaining relevant evidential matter and in mitigating some of the subjectivity involved in assessing going concern. However, the results also indicate that corporate failure models are perceived to be more effective in the planning stages than at the final stages of the audit. Furthermore, auditors are seeking more explicit guidance in auditing standards on the use of corporate failure models for assessing going concern. Originality/value – The study extends previous research by examining the practical efficacy of corporate failure models for assisting auditors to assess going concern in light of human information processing limitations. Further, it examines auditors' perceptions of corporate failure models as an analytical procedure, and the guidance that auditors seek on the use of such models in auditing standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of five factors, reflecting students' diversity in prior content and metacognitive knowledge, on students' academic performance in the introductory accounting course. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a conceptual framework of prior knowledge, five factors are hypothesised to have an impact on students' performance. They are: prior accounting knowledge, age, gender, intended academic major, and first language. A self-administered questionnaire is completed by students enrolled in the compulsory introductory accounting course at a large multi-campus NZ university. Multivariate analysis is carried out to test the research hypotheses and the predictive ability of the five independent variables on students' performance. Findings - Consistent with the educational psychology literature, prior content knowledge has a significant impact. Students' metacognitive knowledge, which differs according to their language and gender, also has a significant effect on students' performance. Research limitations/implications - The low R[sub2] in the regression model suggests that, although some of the study variables are significant, a high proportion of variation in academic performance remains unexplained by the model. The results may also not be representative of student population in general as information is elicited from students from one particular university. Future research could extend the sample to more than one tertiary institution and consider the effect of other potential variables such as students' intrinsic motivation and learning strategies. Originality/value - Unlike many prior studies which lacked a theoretical framework to support their research, this study proposes a conceptual framework drawn from the education psychology literature for examining students' performance in the introductory accounting course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]