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

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Abstract

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.

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Fig. 1

adapted from Hoque (2014) with modification

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Notes

  1. From 120 articles indexed in Scimago journal ranking, 87 and 78 articles are included in JOURQUAL3 and Clarivate Analytics impact factor, respectively.

  2. 33 of 120 articles.

  3. Demerjian et al. (2009) is the working paper version of Demerjian et al. (2012).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Deputy for Research and Development Empowerment, Ministry of Research and Technology/National Innovation Agency for the financial support provided for this study. This study is funded by the Ministry of Research and Technology/National Innovation Agency of the Republic of Indonesia under the scheme of PMDSU, contract number 2141/UN1/DITLIT/DIT-LIT/PT/2020.

Funding

This study is funded by the Ministry of Research and Technology/National Innovation Agency of the Republic of Indonesia under the scheme of PMDSU, contract number 2141/UN1/DITLIT/DIT-LIT/PT/2020.

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Correspondence to Mahfud Sholihin.

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All articles included in this study are accessible through the Scopus database.

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Anggraini, P.G., Sholihin, M. What do we know about managerial ability? A systematic literature review. Manag Rev Q 73, 1–30 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-021-00229-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-021-00229-6

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