A meta-analysis of the financial performance of family firms: Another attempt

•The study presents the results of a comprehensive meta-analysis of the financial performance of family firms.•Family firms show superior performance compared to non-family firms.•We find moderating factors on country, firm, and family levels.

This study presents the results of a meta-analysis of the financial performance of family firms. Drawing on a sample of 380 studies, we find that family firms show an economically weak, albeit statistically significant, superior performance compared to non-family firms. Furthermore, we find moderating factors to significantly condition the relationship. These results show that the positive effect of family firms on financial performance is more pronounced in samples of public and large firms and when an ownership definition of family firms is used. It is also notable that family firms do best when their performance is assessed by ROA, a measure that is not as influenced by financial structure as ROE. Based on the broad empirical evidence obtained, we discuss implications and avenues for future research.