A bibliometric analysis of 633 publications from 1980–2025 shows family-business social-capital research evolving from relational explanations toward strategic and capability-based perspectives.
Key findings
- The field was organized into Emergent, Scaling and Expansion phases. Across these phases, scholarship shifted from fragmented relational accounts toward social capital as a strategic capability and adaptation mechanism in family firms.
Why this matters globally
The temporal framework can sharpen future questions about family networks, governance, succession and organizational resilience.
Thai researcher contribution
Mahidol University researchers contributed to the global synthesis and proposed a developmental framework for family-business scholarship.
Limitations to consider
Single-database coverage and search choices may omit relevant work. Phase and cluster labels are metadata-based interpretations, not assessments of study quality or causal effects.