This book provides a critical analysis of the current state of knowledge on the relationship between family firms and a wide range of accounting choices, including earnings management, accounting conservatism, and financial and non-financial disclosure. In examining the choices made in family firms, the authors explore and elucidate the relevance of agency, socioemotional wealth, stewardship, and resource-based theories. Readers will also find close consideration of the impacts of a country’s culture and societal values on accounting choices. In particular, further evidence is provided on the impact of different cultures on accounting conservatism in family businesses. Finally, avenues for future accounting research on family firms are discussed, highlighting theoretical and empirical challenges. In addition to offering a revealing analysis of the influence of ownership types and cultures on accounting choices within family firms, the book identifies significant practical implications for the management of family firms and policy implications for regulators and standard setters.

This book analyzes the impacts that family control of firms has on capital structure choices, leverage and the risk of financial distress, earnings management practices, and the relation between accounting choices and firm market value. For these purposes, longitudinal data on Italian family and non-family non-financial firms are closely analyzed. The Italian setting is of special interest in this context because family businesses account for 94% of GDP, families are particularly committed to maintaining control of firms, and the economy is bank based rather than market based. The analyses draw on the socioemotional wealth approach, which emphasizes the importance of the stock of emotional value in family firms, in combination with financial theories such as Pecking Order Theory, Trade-off Theory, and Agency Theory. The findings cast significant new light on differences between family and non-family firms and the effects of different forms of family influence. The book will have broad appeal for academics, managers, practitioners, and policymakers.

This study analyzes both theoretically and empirically management accounting system choices in family firms with family CEOs in comparison to non-family firms and family firms with external CEOs. After theorizing differences with regard to both decision-facilitating (timeliness of management accounting information) and decision-influencing (objective performance evaluation, target specificity, target deviation tolerance) management controls, I argue that family CEOs with a propensity for technocratic decision making are better capable of balancing family and business perspectives. This implies that technocratic decision making weakens the family effect on management accounting system choices. Drawing on a dataset of 190 Austrian small and medium-sized firms from the manufacturing industry the results indicate idiosyncratic behavior of family firms in terms of management accounting system choices. Furthermore, the results corroborate the hypothesis that technocratic decision making moderates the family effect on management accounting systems. Finally, I also conduct an exploratory performance analysis to shed more light on the performance effects of management accounting systems in family firms. The findings indicate that only timeliness of management accounting information displays a significant positive effect while the decision-influencing management controls are not related to firm performance.

The Routledge Companion to Family Business offers a definitive survey of a field that has seen rapid growth in research in recent years. Edited by leading scholars with contributions from the top minds in family business from around the world, this volume provides researchers and scholars with a comprehensive understanding of the state of the discipline. Over 25 chapters address a wide variety of subjects, providing readers with a thorough review of the key research themes in the modern family firm, such as corporate social responsibility and bank debt rationing. International examples cover a wide range of economies including China, Europe, and Latin America. The book will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and business instructors seeking a definitive view of the issues and solutions that affect and support family business.

Family firms play a significant role in the global economy. Consistently, over the last two decades academia has turned its attention to the family dimension as a determinant of business phenomena, and this interest has increased over time. While family business research has reached an age of 'adolescence' as a field of study, accounting research to date seems to have been rather slow to pick up on the distinctive characteristics of family firms, and their implications for accounting and reporting practices. In an attempt to accelerate and support research in the field, in this article we highlight theoretical and empirical challenges that accounting scholars need to consider when addressing issues related to accounting and reporting in family firms. These challenges include the selection and potential mixing of appropriate theoretical frameworks, and complications in defining operationally what family firms are. We also provide a 'state of the art' of studies in financial accounting, management accounting and auditing, identifying which issues in relation to family firms have been addressed in the research, and which theories, research methods and types of data have been used in these studies. We conclude by providing directions for future research that can advance our understanding of accounting and reporting in family firms.

The SAGE Handbook of Family Business captures the conceptual map and state-of-the-art thinking on family business - an area experiencing rapid global growth in research and education since the last three decades. Edited by the leading figures in family business studies, with contributions and editorial board support from the most prominent scholars in the field, this Handbook reflects on the development and current status of family enterprise research in terms of applied theories, methods, topics investigated, and perspectives on the field′s future. The SAGE Handbook of Family Business is divided into following six sections, allowing for ease of navigation while gaining a multi-dimensional perspective and understanding of the field. Part I: Theoretical perspectives in family business studies Part II: Major issues in family business studies Part III: Entrepreneurial and managerial aspects in family business studies Part IV: Behavioral and organizational aspects in family business studies Part V: Methods in use in family business studies Part VI: The future of the field of family business studies By including critical reflections and presenting possible alternative perspectives and theories, this Handbook contributes to the framing of future research on family enterprises around the world. It is an invaluable resource for current and future scholars interested in understanding the unique dynamics of family enterprises under the rubric of entrepreneurship, strategic management, organization theory, accounting, marketing or other related areas.

This reference book is an IGI Global Core Reference for 2019 as it provides trending research on family businesses. With the recent boom in entrepreneurship and the maker market, this publication will provide the timeliest research outlining how family businesses can enhance their business practices to ensure sustainability. The Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurial Leadership and Competitive Strategy in Family Business is a collection of innovative research on business and leadership strategies that can be applied to family firms in order to boost efficiency, competitiveness, and optimal use of resource allocation to compete internationally. While highlighting topics including global leadership, knowledge creation, and market performance, this book is ideally designed for business managers, management professionals, executives, researchers, academicians, and students seeking current research on the entrepreneurship role of family businesses in the modern economic age.