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The Most Influential Family Business Articles from 2006 to 2013 Using Five Theoretical Perspectives

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The Palgrave Handbook of Heterogeneity among Family Firms

Abstract

In this chapter, we highlight and review the most frequently cited articles that have influenced family business research between 2006 and 2013 from the five most commonly adopted theoretical perspectives: agency theory, resource-based view, stewardship theory, socioemotional wealth, and institutional theory. Using citation counts from Google Scholar, we identified 21 articles that covered these perspectives. Our review discusses the contributions of these highly cited articles, particularly in terms of understanding family firm heterogeneity. We conclude the chapter by suggesting future research directions using these and other theoretical perspectives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Also see review articles at http://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections/fbr-1-selected_review_articles/fbr

  2. 2.

    Our original purpose was to review the top five articles per theory; however, we ended with 21 articles because 4 articles used more than one of the theories.

  3. 3.

    American Economic Review, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Business Ethics Quarterly, Corporate Governance: An International Review, California Management Review, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Family Business Review, Harvard Business Review, Human Relations, International Small Business Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Family Business Management, Journal of Family Business Strategy, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Small Business Management, Leadership Quarterly, Long Range Planning, Management Science, Organizational Dynamics, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Small Business Economics, Strategic Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, and Strategic Organization.

  4. 4.

    In order to allow a fair representation of citations per year, the searches for influential articles were limited to family business articles that were published between January 2006 and December 2013. However, articles published after December 2013 were considered for enhancing the review and future research directions.

  5. 5.

    Citation counts were conducted using the Google Scholar’s database on September 4, 2017.

  6. 6.

    This premium disappears if the firm is sold to another family member. The authors explain that this is because when the firm is sold within the family, socioemotional wealth (SEW) is maintained.

  7. 7.

    Articles highlighted in the review are shown in bold.

References

Articles highlighted in the review are shown in bold.

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Correspondence to Dustin L. Odom .

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Odom, D.L., Chang, E.P.C., Chrisman, J.J., Sharma, P., Steier, L. (2019). The Most Influential Family Business Articles from 2006 to 2013 Using Five Theoretical Perspectives. In: Memili, E., Dibrell, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Heterogeneity among Family Firms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77676-7_3

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