The Theoretical Framework and Application Frontier of Socioemotional Wealth Theory: A Literature Review from the Perspective of Family Firm

Abstract

For decades, family firms have received high attention from the society, especially from academy community. However, researches on family firms had been relying on other subject’s theories and frameworks in the absence of its own unique theory system. Finally, in 2007, Gomez-Mejia and other scholars put forward a brand new theory-Socioemotional Wealth Theory (SEW). The appearance of the new theory enabled people to set up a framework of interpretation. Nowadays, as the new theory entirely fits in with the features and situations of family firms, it has gradually become a dominant interpretation framework in the field, providing a new perspective for study. We hope that, through analyzing and summarizing the existing researches on Socioemotional Wealth Theory, including its rising up, content and constitutional dimensions, measurement, and factors that influence the decisions and preferences of family firms, this article could provide some references for subsequent discussion and study.