Abstract
From mom-and-pop shops you find across the street to global giants like LVMH – the Arnaults, EXOR – the Agnellis, and Walmart – the Waltons, family businesses are everywhere. As business enterprises, they value wealth creation through innovation, growth, profit, and related business practices. At the same time, however, they pursue family-centered values, such as maintaining control over the business and key strategic resources as well as preserving their legacy for future generations that nonfamily businesses care less about. Given the pervasiveness of family businesses, the implications of their strategic choices along these two lines are relevant not only for companies themselves but also for economies more broadly.