Badru, O. BazeetMairafi, Salihu LimanAbdullahi, Uthman Yahaya2023-12-102023-12-102017-06-18Abdullah, N. S. (2004). Board composition, CEO duality and performance among Malaysian listed companies. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 4(4), 47-61. Adams, R. B., & Ferreira, D. (2007). A theory of friendly boards. The Journal of Finance, 62(1), 217-250. Agrawal, A., & Knoeber, C. R. (1996). Firm performance and mechanisms to control agency problems between managers and shareholders. Journal of financial and quantitative analysis, 31(03), 377-397. Anderson, R. C., Mansi, S. A., & Reeb, D. M. (2004). Board characteristics, accounting report integrity, and the cost of debt. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 37(3), 315-342. Anderson, R. C., Reeb, D. M., Upadhyay, A., & Zhao, W. (2011). The economics of director heterogeneity. Financial Management, 40(1), 5-38. Audretsch, D. B., & Lehmann, E. (2006). Entrepreneurial access and absorption of knowledge spillovers: Strategic board and managerial composition for competitive advantage. Journal of Small Business Management, 44(2), 155-166.https://keffi.nsuk.edu.ng/handle/20.500.14448/931Although the composition of the board is a critical element in the board’s ability to influence corporate outcomes, there is yet no consensus on how to arrive at a board of best quality. Besides, whether individuals in the academic environment are better positioned to fill this gap remains a puzzle in the field of study of accounting, finance and management. As a result, the current study conducts a systematic review on relevant empirical literature on the role of academic directors on corporate outcomes. Based on the review, we find that academic directors have significant influence on corporate outcomes such as company performance, corporate financial reporting quality, corporate philanthropy and other financial policies decision making process. However, we find that empirical evidence on all these is mainly skewed toward developed economies, particularly the US without any single study in the developing economies. In line with this aforementioned evidence, we find it difficult to conclude or generalise the influence of academic directors on corporate outcomes in developing economies. On this note, we suggest that there is need for further empirical studies in this arena so that policy makers, shareholder activists and scholars can have better understanding on the importance of having academic directors in the boardroom.enacademic directors, corporate governance, systematic review, board of high quality, developed economy, developing economyArticle