Defining family business: a closer look at definitional heterogeneity

Researchers have used a myriad of different definitions in seeking to explain the heterogeneity of family firms and their unique behavior; however, no widely-accepted definition exists today. Definitional clarity in any field is essential to provide (a) the basis for the analysis of performance both spatially and temporally and (b) the foundation upon which theories, frameworks and models are developed. We provide a comprehensive analysis of prior research and identify and classify 82 definitions of family business. We then review and evaluate five key theoretical perspectives in family business to identify how these have shaped and informed the definitions employed in the field and duly explain family firm heterogeneity. Finally, we provide a conceptual diagram to inform the choice of definition in different research settings

An Economic Model of the Evolution of Food Retail and Supply Chains from Traditional Shops to Supermarkets to e-Commerce

Food retail has been in continuous evolution for the past century, both in developing and developed countries: from local traditional stores to supermarkets to e-commerce. In this paper we analyze the evolution of food retail by building a store choice equilibrium model and provide an illustrated discussion. The patterns in retail in any given time and place of different types of stores (such as traditional shops, supermarkets, and online e-commerce) depend on two main factors. The first are consumers’ characteristics such as income, tastes, and travel costs of going to different stores and/or shipping costs if purchasing online. The second are the stores’ cost structures, which include item costs from upstream producers, the costs of procurement supply chains (beyond the cost of the item) for perishable items, and the costs of in-store storage. We show under what conditions in equilibrium the different retail types exist and which can become dominant, and what types of goods (dry packaged foods versus perishables) are distributed by what type of retailers

Re-evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of DDAVP in type IIB von Willebrand's disease.

With few exceptions, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vassopressin (DDAVP) has been shown to be useful in securing haemostasis in patients with von Willebrand's disease (vWd). In type IIB vWd, DDAVP has been reported to have no beneficial effects and to be contraindicated because it causes or worsens thrombocytopenia, due to in vivo platelet aggregation. Nevertheless, it was previously demonstrated that DDAVP may have clinical utility in some patients with type IIB vWd. Additional findings obtained in seven type IIB vWd patients of different kindreds undergoing minor surgical procedures are now reported. It was observed that DDAVP corrected the bleeding time in every case, with effects lasting for 2 h. Mean platelet counts decreased 30 min after DDAVP to variable degrees, depending on the anticoagulant used for blood collection, but were normal 2 h later. Furthermore DDAVP normalized FVIII, von Willebrand factor (vWf) antigen (vWf:Ag), and to a lesser extent, vWf ristocetin cofactor activity (vWf:RCoF). Intermediate and large vWf multimers appeared after 30 min. There were no bleeding complications during or after surgery, nor evidence of thrombosis. It was thus confirmed that DDAVP has clinical utility in the prevention of bleeding symptoms in different type IIB vWd patients. Therefore, despite the transitory thrombocytopenia and the incomplete restoration of larger vWf multimers, the use of this drug should be reconsidered for patients with type IIB vWd