Developments in financial institutions, governance, agency costs, and misconduct

This paper reviews recent literature on financial market institutions, governance, agency costs, and misconduct, and summarizes the papers in this special issue. The papers contribute to the misconduct and governance literature in relation to the role of auditors, boards of directors, CEOs, ownership, and financial market regulation. We show Google Scholar and Web of Science trends in the comparative importance of these topics over time in the academic literature. We discuss policy implications and suggestions for future research on governance and financial market misconduct.