Emergent Issues in Private Family Business Research: Family Dynamics, Firm Strategy, and Policy Changes

This proposed dissertation project will examine issues at the intersection of economic policy, family business, and innovation, and entrepreneurship. For the aspiring entrepreneur in a middle- or low-economy, starting a business with one’s family members remains one of the most accessible and viable options for overcoming poverty and creating wealth. Yet, despite the importance of family firms as an engine of job creation and economic growth, we lack a detailed understanding of how family firms behave in respond to policies and institutions at both the national and regional level. In particular, how the family aspect of family firms—such family dynamics and family roles—affect the way family firms respond to national-level policy shocks and interact with regional institutions is not well understood. I propose to address this gap by studying how family firms in China’s Yangtze River Delta responded to China joining the WTO and how these firms build relationships with local governments. The overall objective of this study is to contribute an understanding of how family firms interact with their institutional environment at both the regional and national level. In doing so, I hope to contribute practical insights on how policymakers can design policies that support growth and innovation in family firms. I also hope to provide family firm executives with strategies that they can utilize to better navigate their institutional environments. Ultimately, the goal of this study is to contribute to our knowledge of how entrepreneurs and policymakers in middle- and low-income economies can utilize the family firm as a vehicle for innovation, economic development, and modernization.