PERFORMANCE IN TAX RESEARCH TASKS - THE JOINT EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

This study investigates the separate and joint effects of prior knowle dge and accountability on performance in the information search phase of a tax research task. An experiment is reported in which 63 tax prof essionals performed a computer-based tax research task. The results in dicate that increases in effort duration, which are partly attributabl e to the accountability manipulation, improved search effectiveness re gardless of the level of prior knowledge. In addition, after controlli ng for the effect of effort duration, accountability had an incrementa l positive effect on performance among the more knowledgeable professi onals. These results suggest that effort can substitute for knowledge in performing information search tasks, but this substitution does not appear to be complete. The results also support the hypothesis that t he effect of accountability on performance depends upon the level of k nowledge, which suggests that certain aspects of effort and knowledge act as complements in improving performance.