The state of the art in sustainability of Central-Eastern European family firms: Systematic literature review

Objective: The aim of the systematic literature review was to assess the state of the art in sustainability and trajectories in Central-Eastern European family firms, identify the research gaps, and delineate future research avenues. Research Design & Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of 30 articles from the Web of Science and Scopus that address the subject of sustainability in Central-Eastern European family firms. To identify the state of the art, analysis of keywords co-occurrence was employed as an analytical tool, using Biblioshiny software. Findings: We identified the most influential journals and subject areas. The research allowed for the identification of seven consistent clusters, which prove the great variety of topics in the discussion on the sustainability of family firms in Central-Eastern Europe. The findings showed vast dispersion of research interests and a lack of a single, accurate or dominant research area addressing the phenomenon in this region. Additionally, our findings revealed that the results reported in CEE countries are only partly consistent with the findings presented in Western literature or referenced in other, economically well-developed regions. Implications & Recommendations: We recommend further research on the specific characteristics of family firms and their impact on sustainable development. Moreover, the lack of comparative studies on family and non-family businesses should be addressed. There is also a need to include the cultural context of Central-Eastern Europe countries in research. Contribution & Value Added: Our systematic literature review systematizes the existing literature on the sustainability of family firms in Central-Eastern Europe, isolates main research interests, identifies future research avenues, and provides several important hints for researchers.