The discipline of accounting and auditing has increasingly
recognized judgment and decision making (JDM) as highly important attributes in
the profession because individuals such as managers, auditors, financial
analysts, accountants and standard setters make pivotal judgments and
decisions. Primarily, JDM research in accounting examines two major issues.
First is the quality of an individual’s or group’s JDM, that is, the
measurement of the performance of individuals when they are engaged in tasks
requiring JDM. Second, JDM research examines the determinants of both high and
lower quality judgments, that is, the factors that affect JDM.
Many studies undertaken in this domain of research also
substantiate the significance of JDM in accounting and auditing. A recently-published
paper evaluates all the studies published in 10 accounting journals among the
leading ones from 1980 to 2010 that fall within the domain of JDM research. The
categorization of the studies reviewed in this paper is based on three major
determinants of JDM: Person, Task, and Environment variables.
The review highlights the progress in the literature over
the past three decades and also identifies the methodological limitations of
previous research. The identified limitations will be useful for improving the
research method of future JDM studies in accounting and auditing. The review
also draws inferences on how JDM research in auditing, which is well
established, could usefully guide future JDM research in financial accounting.
To learn more, read the article “Judgment
and Decision-Making Research in Auditing and Accounting: Future Research
Implications of Person, Task, and Environment Perspective” by Rajni Mala
and Parmod Chand. The article was published in the March 2015 edition of the
Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) publication Accounting Perspectives which is
available at the Wiley
Online Library.
