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Family Business Ethics: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Marcos Ferasso, Tatiana Beliaeva, Sascha Kraus, Paul Jones Orcid Logo, Tobias Gössling

Journal of Business Ethics

Swansea University Author: Paul Jones Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s10551-025-05951-9

Abstract

Ethical issues in family businesses become increasingly relevant for businesses, societies and, consequently, organization scholars which manifests in a growing number of publications in the field over the years. Considerable knowledge generated in the area needs to be systematically structured and...

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Published in: Journal of Business Ethics
ISSN: 0167-4544 1573-0697
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68910
Abstract: Ethical issues in family businesses become increasingly relevant for businesses, societies and, consequently, organization scholars which manifests in a growing number of publications in the field over the years. Considerable knowledge generated in the area needs to be systematically structured and synthesized. This study reviewed 162 articles published over the last three decades (1989–2023) to map the intellectual and conceptual structure, and future research opportunities in the family business ethics field. Co-citation analysis highlighted four main groups of scholars influencing the field. The bibliographic coupling distinguished five thematic clusters: succession, religion and goodwill, entrepreneurship and innovation, ethical dilemmas, and values and ethical behavior. Sentiment analysis revealed that scholars explored more positive than negative terms associated with family business ethics. Finally, co-occurrence network analysis suggested the emerging keywords and potential research questions, organized into five research themes, for further development of the family business ethics field.
Keywords: Family business; Ethics; Family business ethics; Bibliometric analysis; Sentiment analysis; Network analysis
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: Swansea University

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