The benefits of family ownership and control of firms are at the center of the family firm debate. Previous studies have used either family ownership or management as proxies for control. Both indicators are off the mark, as they do not measure "decision control" as intended by the theory of the...

The role of owner-family members as internal monitors of firm performance has been largely neglected in family business studies so far. While family management of firms does not lead to clear performance improvements, accounting research has shown that families are better monitors. In this...