Family Business and Regional Development

This book explores the relationship between families, firms, and regions andthe extent to which these relationships contribute to regional economic andsocial development. Although family business participation in economic activities has beena common phenomenon since pre-industrial societies, and its importancehas evolved throughout time and across spatial contexts, the book suggeststhat these factors have often been neglected in family business and regionalstudies. Taking this research gap into account, the book aims to deepen ourunderstanding of the role family firms play in the regional economy.

In particular,it explores two seldom studied questions. Firstly, what role do familyfirms play in regional development? Secondly, how do different spatial regionalcontexts shape family firm operations and performance?Family Business and Regional Development presents a model of "spatialfamiliness" and uses themes such as productivity, networks and competitivenessto shed new light on family businesses. Moreover, it approaches thejuxtaposition between family business and regional studies to encourage thecross-fertilisation of ideas, theories, and research methods between the twofields.

Bringing together leading experts in entrepreneurship, regional economics,and economic geography, this book will be a valuable reading for advancedstudents, researchers and policymakers interested in family firms,regional studies and economic geography.