Abstract :
In recent years, increasing scholarly attention has been directed toward the field of
family business research. Based on an exhaustive sample of 235 publications, this
article provides a comprehensive review and a critical assessment of the theoretical
underpinnings and corporate governance issues in family business research. Three
predominant theoretical perspectives, namely principal–agent theory, stewardship
theory and the resource-based view of the firm, have emerged and provide empirical
evidence that family businesses significantly differ from non-family firms in important
dimensions such as agency costs, competitive advantages or corporate governance
structure. On their own, none of the aforementioned perspectives succeeds in addressing
all complexities associated with family businesses and their corporate governance.
Accordingly, joint approaches combining different theoretical frameworks can help to
improve understanding of the family business. The article concludes by discussing
possible directions for future research that might further contribute to building a
comprehensive theory of the family business and its corporate governance.
