Riding the waves of family firm internationalization : A systematic literature review, integrative framework, and research agenda

Debellis, Francesco and Rondi, Emanuela and Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella and De Massis, Alfredo (2021) Riding the waves of family firm internationalization : A systematic literature review, integrative framework, and research agenda. Journal of World Business, 56 (1): 101144. ISSN 1090-9516

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Abstract

Despite the proliferation in research efforts, family firm (FF) internationalization scholarship suffers from fragmentation, theoretical limitations, and empirical indeterminacy, leaving important facets unexplored. This article’s purpose is to unpack how this body of research has evolved over time and interfaces international business (IB) theory. We conduct a systematic literature review of relevant theoretical and empirical studies covering the last 30 years of research and comprising 134 articles. Our study contributes to this corpus of knowledge by identifying and discussing four evolutionary waves of FF internationalization research. We further advance an integrative framework that offers a comprehensive understanding of the state-of-the-art as well as promising avenues for future research at the intersection of IB and FFs.