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Family Business Research in Africa: An Assessment

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Family Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This chapter reviews and assesses the literature on family businesses in Africa with special emphasis on what has been studied and what the studies tell us about the state of family business research. We conducted a content analysis of family business studies that were published in peer-reviewed journals. The findings indicate that there is low productivity of research on family businesses in Africa and that the research lacks depth in terms of the topics covered and breadth in terms of the regional/countries covered. The findings further show that there were problems with the definition of family businesses and the use of theory in the studies. However, the quality of the studies was high, as demonstrated by the methodologies used and publication outlets.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Moses Acquaah

  2. East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, East Stroudsburg, PA, USA

    Joseph P. Eshun Jr.

Authors
  1. Moses Acquaah
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  2. Joseph P. Eshun Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

    Moses Acquaah

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Acquaah, M., Eshun, J.P. (2016). Family Business Research in Africa: An Assessment. In: Acquaah, M. (eds) Family Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-36143-1_3

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