Why is Family Firms’ Internationalization Unique? A Meta–Analysis

Abstract

Despite its importance, there is no clear understanding of the uniqueness of family firms’ internationalization. This article sheds new light on this issue with a meta–analysis of 76 studies covering 41 countries. We show that the considerable study and cross–country differences in the relationship between family firm and internationalization are explained by the roles of family control, internationalization types, and home countries’ institutional contexts (i.e., minority shareholders protection and generalized trust of people from other countries). Therefore, we examine the existing divergent results using theories that reconcile some of these mixed findings and shed light on family firms’ specific internationalization challenges.