Intellectual Foundations of Current Research in Family Business: An Identification and Review of 25 Influential Articles

Abstract

This article identifies 25 articles that have been particularly influential in shaping the state of the art of research on family businesses. These works were identified based on a citation analysis of family business articles published over the past 6 years in the four journals that publish most of the research. The authors summarize those influential studies and discuss their most important contributions to scholars’ current understanding of family business. By identifying common themes among those studies, the authors are able to provide directions for future research in the field.