Family Business Performance and Succession
Family Business Performance and Succession is a research topic within Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 30.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers focuses on the study and management of family businesses, covering topics such as socioemotional wealth, agency relationships, entrepreneurship, succession planning, corporate governance, innovation, social capital, internationalization, and stewardship.
- Family Firms
- Socioemotional Wealth
- Agency Relationships
- Entrepreneurship
- Succession Planning
- Corporate Governance
- Innovation
- Social Capital
- Internationalization
- Stewardship
- Research works
- 24k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 7.2k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 30.3% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +28% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Family Business Performance and Succession research?
By volume, the United States and China publish the most (573 and 415 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 573 works
- 2 China 415 works
- 3 Germany 332 works
- 4 Indonesia 309 works
- 5 United Kingdom 283 works
- 6 Italy 250 works
- 7 Spain 237 works
- 8 India 219 works
- 9 France 173 works
- 10 Brazil 155 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Family Business Performance and Succession research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Jönköping University publishes the most Family Business Performance and Succession research, followed by Witten/Herdecke University and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Jönköping UniversitySweden 27 works
- 2 Witten/Herdecke UniversityGermany 27 works
- 3 WHU – Otto Beisheim School of ManagementGermany 19 works
- 4 Universitas CiputraIndonesia 16 works
- 5 University of MonsBelgium 15 works
- 6 Zeppelin Universität gemeinnützige GmbHGermany 14 works
- 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 13 works
- 8 Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom 13 works
- 9 State University of MalangIndonesia 13 works
- 10 University of St.GallenSwitzerland 13 works
Who are the leading researchers in Family Business Performance and Succession?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Family Business Performance and Succession include Jay B. Barney, David B. Audretsch and Michael A. Hitt.
- 1 Jay B. Barney United States 10k citations
- 2 David B. Audretsch United States 3.7k citations
- 3 Michael A. Hitt United States 3k citations
- 4 Donald C. Hambrick United States 2.9k citations
- 5 R. Duane Ireland United States 2.8k citations
- 6 Danny Miller Canada 2.6k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Family Business Performance and Succession research done?
The largest centres of Family Business Performance and Succession research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Rome (Italy) and Surabaya (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Jönköping and Witten.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- JönköpingSE · 27.4 works87×
- WittenDE · 26.8 works54×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Family Business Performance and Succession than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Family Business Performance and Succession?
Among universities, judged by research, Witten/Herdecke University, University of Beira Interior and Lancaster University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Witten/Herdecke UniversityGermany | 73.1 | 27.8% | 56.5× | 27 | +148.5% |
| 2 | University of Beira InteriorPortugal | 73.1 | 62.7% | 16.4× | 9 | +146.5% |
| 3 | Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom | 72.7 | 62.7% | 9.5× | 13 | +41.2% |
| 4 | Jönköping UniversitySweden | 71.3 | 30.1% | 105.2× | 27 | +37.6% |
| 5 | Free University of Bozen-BolzanoItaly | 68.7 | 51.9% | 23.9× | 12 | — |
| 6 | WHU – Otto Beisheim School of ManagementGermany | 65.5 | 34.9% | 198.6× | 19 | +34.4% |
| 7 | Hasselt UniversityBelgium | 64.5 | 52.6% | 23.4× | 10 | -31.9% |
| 8 | Prague University of Economics and BusinessCzechia | 61.5 | 35.3% | 43.2× | 11 | +152.1% |
| 9 | La Trobe UniversityAustralia | 60.6 | 38.6% | 7.1× | 11 | +332.5% |
| 10 | University of AlmeríaSpain | 59.4 | 30.8% | 11.3× | 8 | +242.1% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Family Business Performance and Succession research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 28% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Family Business Performance and Succession.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.