Family Constitutions Regulating the Bright and Dark Sides of Family Involvement: Toward an Integrative Framework

Raphaëlle Mattart; Yannick Bammens; Fabrice Pirnay

doi:10.24310/ejfb.15.2.2025.21404

Authors

Raphaëlle Mattart Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1319-3257
Yannick Bammens Department of Marketing and Strategy, Faculty of Business Economics, Hasselt University, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9321-4646
Fabrice Pirnay HEC Liège Management School, Liège University, https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6782-2150

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/ejfb.15.2.2025.21404

Keywords:

Family constitution, Family protocol, Family governance, Regulatory focus theory, Agency theory, Stewardship theory

Abstract

This article offers a conceptual analysis of an under-researched, yet widely used, family governance mechanism, namely the family constitution. It identifies what is understood by the term family constitution, reviews the existing literature, and highlights the major roles associated with it. Family constitutions appear to perform two main roles: avoiding conflicts and fostering a shared vision and commitment among family members. Using agency and stewardship perspectives, our paper anchors each role in a well-established theoretical framework. Furthermore, our conceptual analysis moves beyond this theoretical opposition and reconciles both views under the lens of regulatory focus theory (RFT). As such, this article offers a unifying integrative theoretical framework that provides a better understanding of the multiple roles played by family constitutions to unleash the full potential of this important family governance mechanism. Based on this integrative theoretical framework, we argue that effective family constitutions must regulate both the dark and bright sides of family involvement.

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