The evolution of the field of family business research over a decade (2012-2022)

The continuous challenges to which family firms are subjected have led research in this field to focus on various aspects, thus generating a large and heterogeneous body of literature. This paper describes the evolution, status, and trends in family business literature over the decade 2012-2022 and also identifies gaps that may require further investigation. In that regard, new opportunities for additional analyses are also determined. To this end, a bibliometric study has been carried out based on a collection of articles from the Business Source Premier, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, yielding a total of 4064 articles. We analyze the main indicators of activity in family business research over the aforementioned period. The most productive authors and institutions, leading journals, and main research topics of these publications are reflected in this analysis. Likewise, the relationships between the most frequent co-authorships within the field are mapped, as well as the connections between co-words in published articles. In addition, the 10 most influential works published during those 10 years and changes in trends related to the most popular topics, in contrast to previous years, are also highlighted. Trends in the field of family business research have changed over the last decade, with "entrepreneurship and innovation" becoming the most researched topic. Our work updates knowledge on how family business studies have evolved and highlights the current lack of micro-research on this subject. Thus, by recognizing the importance of micro-level variables and underexplored areas, this paper paves the way for further scholarly inquiry in this discipline. As they conduct their own investigations and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in this area, researchers and scholars in this field will benefit from the insights provided in this article.