A different perspective on defining family firms: The ownership construct revisited

Abstract

Our paper contributes to the question: „How can we define a family firm?‟ We argue that the roots of this question can be found in the ownership of the firm, which in this case is a family. We argue for an approach that emphasizes its psychological dimension, that is, the feeling of ownership, as crucial for our understanding of family businesses. Moreover, we stress that ownership behaviors are key indicators for family involvement. Our level of analysis is the individuals that own and manage the firm, more specific, their legal ownership combined with their experienced feelings of ownership and their consequential ownership behaviors. Lastly, we discuss how this psychological dimension of ownership relates to agency theory and the RBV in family firms.