Affiliation:
1. Victoria University of Wellington
Abstract
Relatively little is known about performance in the ultimate high school course in accounting. Analysis of (co)variance techniques were used to determine whether the concurrent study of English, economics or mathematics was related to performance in the New Zealand University Bursaries accounting examination after correcting for a proxy of academic ability. The analysis of the performance of 10212 candidates over a five-year period showed that the concurrent study of (a) English carried no benefit; and (b) economics provided a comparative advantage but the practical benefit was variable and relatively small. Whether the choice of a mathematics subject carried a benefit could not be adequately tested. Statistics as the sole mathematics course in the absence of the study of economics was associated with a disastrous performance in the accounting course.