No. 157: Succession in private firms as an entrepreneurial process

Karl Wennberg, Mattias Nordqvist, Massimo Bau’ och Karin Hellerstedt
September 2010

Abstract: In considering firm succession as the acts of both entrepreneurial exit and entry, this paper adds to work that seeks to integrate entrepreneurship and family business research. We provide a comprehensive literature review of succession research over the past 35 years and identify seven thematical clusters within which succession can be understood as a distinct part of the entrepreneurial process, and three areas of particular interest for future research seeking to advance the literatures on entrepreneurship, family firms, and governance in private firms. The paper explores theoretical, conceptual, and methodological ways of integrating these findings into the research on entrepreneurship and family business.

Keywords: Family firms, Succession, Entrepreneurship

JEL: L26, M13

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