This doctoral thesis explores three distinct aspects of owner control in private firms. The three paper projects, which constitute the extant dissertation, shed light on the overarching topic of owner control in private firms by elaborating on (1) the formation of business dynasties, (2)...

Drawing on organizational identity theory, we develop a model linking family ownership and expectations, entrepreneurial risk taking, and image in family firms to explain family firm growth. Testing our model on a sample of 163 Swiss family firms, we suggest that entrepreneurial risk taking and...

Research in the “theory of the firm” tradition has often characterized firms as subeconomies in which economic exchange is shaped by a central authority. We propose an expanded view of firms as subsocieties in which authority is further responsible for establishing principles that shape...