Abstract
Family Firms are receiving increasing attention in business research. At first sight, the field seems to be heterogeneous, which exacerbates the orientation in and the advancement of the field. Therefore, this article strives to systematize Anglo-American family firm research and thereby to identify key discussion lines of this field. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, we identify core authors and core journals. Based on a bibliometric citation analysis of 276 journal articles with a total of 12,800 references, we have identifiedfive key discussion lines: 1) legitimization and definition, 2) governance, 3) competitive advantage, 4) leadership, and 5) succession. These five discussion lines and the respective literature constitute a framework for the advancement of family firm research.