Family Firms' Boards: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Research Question/Issue: Despite the growing interest in family firms (FFs) and their boards of directors (boards), the em-pirical research remains fragmented, which makes a comprehensive understanding challenging. This review aims to unify theresearch landscape and to provide a framework for future studies to better understand boards in FFs.Research Findings/Insights: Our analysis of 99 papers published between 2001 and 2023 shows that the literature on boardsin FFs relies heavily on input–output models that use archival data. Although traditional perspectives remain dominant, newideas are gaining traction by recognizing the importance of family ownership, exploring alternative or complementary theoreti-cal lenses, uncovering board processes, and using advanced analytical methods.Theoretical/Academic Implications: We propose five research directions: (1) Investigate how family dimensions shape FFboards and their impact on firm outcomes; (2) examine the impact of board characteristics on board decision-making and effec-tiveness in FFs; (3) analyze the specific mechanisms through which board processes in FFs influence firm outcomes; (4) expandthe research geographically and explore the influence of temporal and institutional contexts on FF boards; and (5) employ a widerrange of research methods to study FF boards.Practitioner/Policy Implications: Our results indicate that research on boards in FFs is evolving and broadening, most no-tably, through the integration of classical theories borrowed from the general management field (e.g., agency, stewardship, andresource dependence theories) with more specific theories (e.g., socioemotional wealth theory) and themes related to corporatesocial responsibility.1 | IntroductionA central challenge in corporate governance is understand-ing, constructing, and leveraging boards of directors (boards),particularly for family firms (FFs) that are prevalent glob-ally (La Porta, Lopez-De- Silanes, and Shleifer 1999; Pandey,Andres, and Kumar 2023; Zellweger 2017). The core interestin the boards of FFs is that they present unique features asthey are shaped by family involvement (Chrisman, Chua, andSharma 2005; Chua, Chrisman, and Sharma 1999; Pandey,Andres, and Kumar 2023; Van den Berghe and Carchon 2002).The idea draws on arguments that boards can be critical toFFs' competitiveness, performance, value (e.g., Andersonand Reeb 2004; Jackling and Johl 2009; Klein, Shapiro, andYoung 2005), and entrepreneurship (Stanley et al. 2019).FFs, by combining business and family domains (Gersicket al. 1997; Whetten, Foreman, and Dyer 2014), are inher-ently complex. This complexity highlights the importance ofThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the originalwork is properly cited, the use is non- commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.© 2024 The Author(s). Corporate Governance: An International Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.