MODELING THE DETERMINANTS OF AUDIT EXPERTISE

Libby & Luft [Accounting, Organizations and Society (1993) pp. 425-450] presented a model of the relations between experience, ability, knowledge, and performance in audit judgment. This paper extends the model by developing a framework for predicting the structure of these relations in different judgment settings and provides an initial test of the predictions by analyzing data from Bonner & Lewis's [Journal of Accounting Research (Supplement 1990) pp. 1-20] four tasks using LISREL. Key predictions were that problem-solving ability would directly affect performance only in unstructured tasks and would indirectly affect performance through its effect on knowledge acquisition where the learning environment was impoverished. The predictions were supported in most cases. In addition, the paper provides and tests a basis for predicting the associations between performance on different audit tasks. Construct measurement problems that need to be addressed in future research are also indicated.