Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study on the determinants of student’s performance in a three-year accountancy degree program in Hong Kong, addressing the importance of prior knowledge. In addition to gender and age, the factors investigated include prior studies of accounting, English and mathematics at high school and university levels. The results indicate a significant impact of prior accounting knowledge in all years, with no significant effect being found for prior studies of English and mathematics, age and gender except that females outperform males in the third year. Moreover, prior study of accounting displays a spiraling effect emphasizing the importance of background knowledge of accounting in university study.