What do we know about managerial ability? A systematic literature review

This study aims to analyze the trends, progress, and opportunities for future research on managerial ability literature. Since receiving a lot of attention after the study of Demerjian et al. (Manag Sci 58:1229–1248, 2012. http://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1487), there has been no literature review study on managerial ability research. Using a systematic review process, this study includes 120 papers. The studies’ period ranged from 1974 to 2020. The findings of this literature review are presented in two parts, namely (1) a discussion of trends in the five classifications (topics, research settings, theories, methods, and primary data analysis techniques) and the current progress in existing studies; and (2) suggestions for future research. We classify suggestions for future research into nine themes: firm performance, capital market, reporting quality, auditing, investment decisions, financial decisions, tax, corporate social responsibility, and others. In addition, the development of managerial ability definition over time is provided prior to the literature review findings. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.