Corporate Governance Patterns in Family Firms Around the World

Abstract

Family business literature has offered different typologies and taxonomies to examine family firm heterogeneity, however the extant research has focused on the mere descriptive classification without analyzing behavioral patterns of the different types of family firms. Even more, most of the existing classifications are empirically tested in one single country. To address these two research gaps, we draw on the theoretical configurative approach and use the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) international dataset to explore different family firm configurations based on the combination of business and family governance practices. For each type of family firms, we analyze their transgenerational entrepreneurship practices, non-economic goals, and firm performance patterns. Additionally, stemming from institutional isomorphic approach, we theoretically argue and empirically found evidence that there are governance configurations more prone in some countries than others.