The Nature of Family Governance: A Contractual Perspective

摘要

Governance has been a long-term difficulty in family firm research, the main reasons are based on the complexity and illegibility of family firm theory. By analyzing the nature of family firm in a contractual perspective, we insist that the family's influence on firm governance is to be concerned, and that family contracting is a keystone and basis of governance of family businesses. Family contracting governance will reduce agency cost meanwhile increase it, the governance of altruism help to amplify the advantage of family firm, but it can also engender self-control problems which is difficult to solve in family firms.