Finance in Family Business Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine how the family business literature and financial issues interact. It is carried out on 448 articles methodically selected from 24 management journals and 102 finance journals. After discussing the periodical development of literature, the study identifies the key research topics in the both fields and by crossing the results it identifies specific interaction trends. The classical financial theory cannot be applied to family businesses. The outcome of this research discloses that socioemotional wealth could contribute to determine a new perspective under which to examine the interplay between the family and the business. The schematic overview on the state of art let us reflect on the gaps that could be bridged, through a coherent advancing of financial studies in family business. The understanding that classical financial theory cannot be applied to family businesses and the discovery of peculiar family business dynamics can assure the continuity of the firm by defying the growth of firm’s value in term of the emotional components beyond the financial considerations. This review shows to researchers a wider scenario of the family business by leading to many challenges and gives an essential support to scholars in advancing a beneficial research.