Is academic performance a zero-sum game? Exploring the nexus between research and education outcomes of U.S. accounting programs

Abstract Academics and the public have long questioned whether research and teaching are symbiotic activities, with each enhancing the other. Revisiting this question for the U.S. accounting discipline, we analyze publication output in top-tier journals and CPA exam pass rates to indicate an accounting department's total research and educational achievement. Examining data for 65 top programs from 1985 to 2016 finds that research productivity and this desired educational outcome are positively, but not significantly, related. This suggests that an accounting department's two major activities do not conflict—but also do not strongly support each other. This result is generally reproduced for different levels of research production. Some variation is observed after the CPA exam changed to its current computerized administration.