Accuracy and calibration in professional judgment: A study of tax practitioners

Abstract

The competence of tax accountants plays a crucial role in the U.S. voluntary compliance income tax system. This study extends prior research in accountant expertise to tax accountants. Two dimensions of expertise are measured: accuracy of recall of declarative tax knowledge, and calibration of confidence in the accuracy of recall. It is found that, like auditors, tax accountants exhibit overconfidence in their ability to recall knowledge in their domain. Because expertise is not directly observable, we seek to link our measures to observable surrogates, including: rank in firm, experience, education, and specialization. Hypothesized relationships are generally supported, although there is no detectable relationship between our measures and post-baccalaureate education. There is a positive relationship between the dimensions of expertise we measure and length of experience in practice; however, at high levels of experience the relationship becomes negative.

Citation

Samelson, D. and Jeffrey, C. (2000), "Accuracy and calibration in professional judgment: A study of tax practitioners", Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research (Advances in Accounting Behavioural Research, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 153-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-7979(00)03030-1