Mapping research on corporate misconduct in banking: lessons from literature on preventive and punitive actions

Abstract

Advanced societies are increasingly concerned about corporate misconduct. Citizens are more willing to penalize it, and regulators are punishing companies more significantly than ever before. In particular, while reputation is a key asset for any business, corporate conduct has proven to be especially relevant in the banking industry. The present paper explores the main research efforts carried out on this topic, aiming to learn lessons from a comparison of studies focused on preventive and punitive actions. To accomplish this, we selected relevant corporate misconduct papers from the Web of Science, conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to understand the role of banking industry-oriented research, and finally, performed a systematic review to distinguish between articles addressing impact measurement and those focusing on prevention. The results allowed us to respond to the unanswered questions regarding the particularities of the banking industry that make it require further and independent analysis and to the debate about whether the current regulation led to certain unwanted effects. Among those many lessons, one is strikingly important as most studies coincide in the conclusion that, instead of the current actions, more effort should be put into efficient prevention methods, such as education for more ethical corporate and individual behavior.