Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Victoravich, Lisa Marie
Author's Email Address	fsulv@aol.com
URN	etd-06252007-222258
Title	When do Opportunity Costs Count? Vague Opportunity Costs, the Completion Effect, and Management Accounting Exerience.
Degree	PhD
Department	Accounting, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title M.G. Fennema Committee Chair Doug Stevens Committee Member Greg Gerard Committee Member Neil Charness Committee Member
Keywords	project completion stage completion effect management accounting experience vagueness Opportunity costs
Date of Defense	2008-06-08
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Although prior research has established the importance of opportunity costs and identified factors influencing their inclusion in decisional analyses, researchers have overlooked several factors likely to be present in an actual managerial setting. In an experiment, I investigate how two situational factors, vagueness of opportunity cost presentation and stage of project completion, affect individuals’ tendency to attend to opportunity costs. I also investigate how attending to opportunity costs affects project continuance judgments and decisions. The two situational factors are examined across two groups of participants with varying levels of management accounting experience. I find that vagueness of opportunity cost presentation and a nearly complete project decrease inexperienced participants’ attention to opportunity costs. Experience moderates the effect of these factors as experienced participants attend to opportunity costs despite presence of the two situational factors. As well, the tendency to continue a project is influenced by both the number of opportunity costs attended to and decision-maker experience.
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