Contribution on family business definition

Despite numerous researches and an ample literature, there is not a unanimously and approved family business definition which identify family businesses from nonfamily businesses. Which are the aspects to describe exactly a family business? Which are the aspects that help to recognise family business from nonfamily business? Answering to these questions means to circumscribe the field of investigation, and obtain a comparable sample for international researches; to individualize the presence and the specific characteristics of the family business in comparison to nonfamily business; in addition it means to be able to compare more easily the empirical studies. Based on a review of international literature on family business issue, three variables principals have emerged: the degree of ownership; the intention to the succession and the involvement of the family members in the business. This study attempts to analyze these variables in order to contribute to the Family business definition.