Phillip H. Phan – författare

Until recently, research in family business has been confined to a sub-group of entrepreneurship scholars, labor economists, and sociologists. Family business employment is often the only economic option available to migrants, the first entrepreneurial experience for young people, and a source of an economy''s new business creation activities. These issues are typically framed in terms of the generational transfer of wealth, management succession, or the interplay between the economic system of a family and its sociopolitical system. The phenomenon is clearly widespread but for some reason continues to be poorly understood.

We believe that progress on the empirical front has been hampered by a lack of accepted theoretical frameworks. For example, attempts to employ agency theory, geographic agglomeration and spill overs, social networks, sense making, bargaining and other frameworks have been scattered. In our view, the extant research has not created the theoretic ballast that can withstand repeated empirical verification. More fundamentally, researchers are beginning to ask, "Is family business theoretically distinctive or a convenient phenomenon for exploiting familiar theories with new data?"

We believe the time is ripe for a focused look at the theoretical history and prospects of family business research. Review articles grounded in economics, sociology, psychology and political economy and that offer multidisciplinary implications are especially sought. Theory based empirical papers are also welcomed. We believe that there are exciting opportunities for theory development and so encourage authors to focus on this in their submissions. In sum, the focus of this volume is on showcasing and advancing the latest research in family business.

The authors review the latest research in the field and then address the many challenges - heterogeneous institutions, geographies and cultures, fast evolving practices, the lack of reliable large datasets, and fragmented theory building that have hampered the development of this research. In many ways, the fundamental questions relating to the rationale and definitions of social entrepreneurship are still very much a work in progress. The main characteristics emerging from the theoretical and empirical discussions in this volume exemplify such complexity. This volume will inspire future researchers to pursue cross-disciplinary theory building, with the aim of building on what we already know and resolving what remains controversial. It will also help researchers think creatively about how their work can inform practice and policy making through the initial design of the research model.

This book offers an empirical approach to social entrepreneurship, that researchers, students and policy makers will find invaluable.

Contributors: A.-K. Achleitner, N. Auch, H. Aygören, S. Bacq, A.V. Bruno, J.F.G. Bunders, E.D. Carlson, J.E. Clarkin, P. Heister, J.R. Kickul, A. Kroeger, K. Lambrich, S.H. Lee, J. Maas, M. Meyskens, M. Nordqvist, P.H. Phan, A.A. Seferiadis, W. Spiess-Knafl, C. Weber, J.L. Woolley, M.B.M. Zweekhorst

By examining the influence of families on firm behaviors and decisions, researchers have been pushing the boundaries of this field. As researchers develop a better understanding of how families influence their businesses, the family conditions, including the properties and dynamics of families, have been found to play significant roles in the business decisions. In addition, globalization as a pressing issue has brought new opportunities and challenges to families and their businesses. This volume comprises diverse topics, including less commonly examined issues such as kinship, immigrant family enterprises, and family asset management. This book is a rich resource for researchers, students, and family business consultants.

The book''s organization is designed to take the reader from a general framework for understanding the relationship between economic development and entrepreneurship to more specific examples of how entrepreneurs and their firms respond to the opportunity and threats that are dynamically evolving in such places. The case studies provide scholars with the opportunity to develop theoretically grounded research questions that will advance the field beyond what we already know from previous work in the contexts of the US and developed economies. The book represents the first serious attempt to suggest new theoretical frameworks for understanding the emergence of entrepreneurship in regions that do not have all of the classical prerequisites (such as financial and human capital, favorable geography, institutional infrastructures, and so on) predicted in extant development models.

This book takes an important step forward in our knowledge of entrepreneurship and will be of great interest to scholars and graduate students in business, economic development, and regional studies; policymakers in economic development, technology transfer, and financial markets; and journalists following business and development issues in emerging regions.