Family businesses in India: history and the future

Indian companies in South Asia were predominantly family-owned from when corporate growth accelerated (late nineteenth century). Several factors sustained family business: the slow growth of a managerial labour market, shortage of capital, and colonial laws regulating the inheritance and succession of private property. Some of these factors weakened after 1950, whereas a different set contributed to longevity. In both times, the history of family business reveals a structural instability in how the organization worked. The chapter discusses why family businesses persisted, the governance issues they gave rise to, and how the meaning of family shifted in the context of corporate business.