Adjei, E ans Ko ang; Ama o, S e ano; Basco, Rod igo; Suwala, Lech
A icle — Published Ve sion
Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew,
agenda aming and u u e esea ch di ec ions
Re iew o Regional Resea ch
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Sp inge Na u e
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Adjei, E ans Ko ang; Ama o, S e ano; Basco, Rod igo; Suwala, Lech (2025) :
Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew, agenda aming and u u e esea ch
di ec ions, Re iew o Regional Resea ch, ISSN 1613-9836, Sp inge , Be lin, Heidelbe g, Vol. 45, Iss.
1, pp. 1-16,
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EDITORIAL
h ps://doi.o g/10.1007/s10037-025-00234-2
Re iew o Regional Resea ch (2025) 45:1–16
Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew,
agenda aming and u u e esea ch di ec ions
E ans Ko ang Adjei1· S e ano Ama o2· Rod igo Basco3·
Lech Suwala4
Accep ed: 12 Feb ua y 2025 / Published online: 14 Ma ch 2025
© The Au ho (s) 2025
Abs ac Recen ly amily i ms seen a delica e enewed in e es in egional science,
egional s udies and economic geog aphy and simila ly, spa ial and egional con ex s
ha e been add essed in amily business s udies. Those s ands a e d i en by in e es
in he he e ogenei y o amily i ms as he mos common ype o o ganiza ion all o e
he wo ld ( amily spa iali ies) and he he e ogenei y o spa ial and egional con ex as
a signi ican selec ion il e o he beha io and pe o mance o amily i ms (spa ial
amiliness). This edi o ial add esses hese unique se ings o amily i ms and he
na u e o spa ial/ egional con ex s in a g ea e dep h, by p o iding a concise li e a u e
o e iew on con ex ualizing esea ch, by p esen ing a s a shaped model o sys emize
esea ch a ound spa ial and egional con ex s, and by sugges ing u he esea ch
di ec ions. Ou p oposed s a -shaped model ames a holis ic iew on spa ial and
egional con ex s hough a scien i ic agenda ha di e en ia es be ween heo e ical
explana ions and modelling (spa ial concep s), empi ical desc ip ions and analyses
(spa ial ac o s, spa ial s uc u es, spa ial se ings), and policy ecommenda ions
All au ho s ha e con ibu ed equally o he wo k (e.g. o ganiza ion pe inen sessions a con e ences
(EURAM, RSAI, RSA, GCEG), acqui ing po en ial au ho s, handling and e iewing pape s, w i ing
he edi o ial). Fo p agma ic easons au ho s appea in alphabe ical o de .
Lech Suwala
lech.suwala@ u-be lin.de
1Cen e o Regional Science, Umeå Uni e si y, Samhälls e a huse , Plan 5, 901 87 Umeå,
Sweden
2Depa men o Economics and Managemen , Uni e si y o T en o, Via Inama 5, 38122 T en o,
I aly
3Sheikh Saoud bin Khalid bin Khalid Al-Qassimi Chai in Family Business, Ame ican Uni e si y
o Sha jah, PO Box 26666, Sha jah, Uni ed A ab Emi a es
4Depa men o U ban and Regional Economics, Technical Uni e si y o Be lin, S aße des
17. Juni 152, 10623 Be lin, Ge many
K
2E. K. Adjei e al.
(spa ial policies). These elemen s a e shaped by scala (spa ial ames) and empo al
ames (spa ial p ocesses). Mos o hese spa ial building blocks and hei in e play
a e explo ed by he a icles in his special issue.
Keywo ds Family i ms · Spa ial/ egional con ex · Spa ial amiliness · Family
spa iali ies
“The amily business is good o he coun y, because people spend hei en-
i e li es building a business ha in u n se es he communi y” (Alco n 1981,
p. 18)
1 Family i ms and egional con ex : a s ony, bu p omising pa h
I is almos beyond expec a ions ha he amily i m, as he mos common o m
o o ganiza ion a ound he wo ld (Suwala e al. 2024) has been mos ly neglec ed
in egional science, egional s udies and economic geog aphy (S ough e al. 2015;
Ama o 2020; Basco and Suwala 2020). Simila ly, spa ial and egional con ex s ha e
no been app op ia ely add essed in amily business s udies (W igh e al. 2014;
Basco 2015; Basco and Suwala 2021).
The e a e a ious easons o his. In he abo e-men ioned egional disciplines,
dominan pa adigms a ound knowledge-based and inno a ion-d i en g owing mod-
e n and ne wo ked socie ies amed wi hin bo h he egionaliza ion and globaliza ion
ha e b ough in e es in local, en ep eneu ial, newly bo n, o egional small and
medium en e p ises on he one hand, and la ge, o eign, in e - o mul ina ional com-
panies on he o he hand (Sco 1986; S e nbe g 1989; F i sch 1992; Taylo and Oinas
2006). A he same ime, idiosync asies o amily i ms—such as owne ship, go e n-
ance, and managemen —along wi h undamen al ope a ional and s a egic conce ns,
including i m size and g ow h, succession, employee ela ions, and en ep eneu ial
spi i ha e been cen al opics in amily business s udies as hey signi ican ly a ec
i m beha io and pe o mance (Tagiu i and Da is 1992; Chua e al. 1999; Basco
2013;Daspi e al.2021).
Bo h he ‘middle g ound’ and ‘ amily componen ’ o i ms ha e been la gely
o e looked in egional disciplines, as well as ex e nal ci cums ances such as he
( egional) con ex exp essed in any ype o spa iali y in amily business s udies
(Suwala e al. 2024). Howe e , when looking closely a ce ain ea ly, popula and
endu ing esea ch s eams in bo h ields, we ound e idence ha hose ci cums ances
ha e been implici ly acknowledged. Discou ses a ound he Ma shallian indus ial
dis ic and i s e i al in Thi d I aly ha e emphasized he amily ( i m) in he egional
con ex s (e.g. Ma shall 1920; Beca ini 1978). Simila ly, pionee ing s udies in he
ea ly yea s o amily business esea ch highligh ed an open sys ems pe spec i e,
acknowledging he unique (local and in e na ional) con ex s in amily i ms (e.g.
Hollande 1983; Gallo and S een 1991; Kahn and Hende son 1992).
I we align wi h Yeung and Soh’s de ini ion o he i m as “an o ganiza ional uni
b inging oge he di e se social ela ions in which ac o s a e embedded ... [and] hese
K
Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew, agenda aming and u u e esea ch... 3
ela ionships may be in e -pe sonal ela ionships, amily linkages o simply social
ies” (Yeung and Soh 2000, p. 311), and cen e and enla ge his de ini ion a ound
he amily componen —which is exac ly wha Wal he Isa d e al. (1969) sugges s
in his Gene al Theo y: Social, Poli ical, Economic and Regional— he ollowing in-
e p e a ion o amily i ms eme ges. Family i ms se e as he main d i ing o ce,
ib an agen s, and a s abilizing glue in a spa ially embedded o ches a ion o mani-
old ela ionships spanning he amily, he i m, he local communi y and o en e en
mul iple gene a ions h ough pe sis en local oo s, spa ial p oximi y and egional
iden i y building.
This ‘o ches a ion o sepa a ed wo king asks’ and ‘holding oge he ’ (in eg a-
ion) o localized social ela ionships and spa ial a angemen s h ough amily ( i ms)
ha e been ecognized a long ime ago in egional disciplines. Al ed Ma shall, in
his classical ake on (p e-)indus ial dis ic s, and la e esea che s wi hin he ealm
o Thi d I aly indus ial dis ic s du ing he Fo dis c isis o he 1970s and 1980s,
highligh ed exac ly hese cons ella ions as success ul egionally concen a ed p o-
duc ion hubs d i en by amily-owned and highly specialized small and medium-
sized i ms (Ma shall 1920; Beca ini 1978). These indus ial dis ic s we e cha ac-
e ized as “clus e s o small- amily and c a -based i ms in he u al a eas (...) wi h
pe i bou geois adi ions, communi y-wide social and economic ules, and munic-
ipal me can ilis adi ions, which a e his o ically sedimen ed in pa icula a eas”
(T igilia 1990, p. 199) based on “pa ial di ision o labou (...) be ween indi idual
membe s o he same amily, be ween amilies, and be ween neighbo ing illages,
o clans” (Ma shall 1920, p. 113).
Al hough he amily ( i m) was also men ioned in simila spa ial se ings—e.g.
he Wenzhou model o he Gnösjo Spi i (Yeung 2000;Wig en2003; Wei e al.
2007) and pa ly in he e i o ial inno a ion model li e a u e (including inno a-
i e milieus, clus e s, egional inno a ion sys ems, and new indus ial spaces, S o zi
1989; B inkho e al. 2015), he ins i u ion o he ‘ amily’ ne e achie ed a decisi e
b eak h ough. Ins ead, i was spo adically e e enced in s udies, in e mingled wi h
kinship and iendship ela ionships and o en subs i u ed, pa aph ased o black-
boxed as coope a ion, us , and ecip oci y among spa ially p oxima e economic
en i ies, c ea ing a so-called ‘local a mosphe e’ (c . o iginal Ma shallian ideas, Ma -
shall 1890, p. 198; Hansen 1992; Basco and Suwala 2021).
In amily business s udies—a ela i ely young academic ield—(spa ial) con ex s
ha e been unde s ood as (ex e nal) en i onmen s in ea ly esea ch (Da is and S e n
1980; Hollande and Elman 1988). One o he i s s udies o se iously examine he
en i onmen (unde s ood as ma ke place o mac o-sys em le el) is he PhD hesis
o Hollande (Hollande 1983, p. 8, 42, 201). He eby, “ h ee majo in e ac i e com-
ponen s: he amily, he business, and he en i onmen wi h (...) ela i ely pe meable
bounda ies” (Hollande and Elman 1988, p. 159) a e en isioned. I was u he app e-
hended ha “ he jux aposi ion o open-sys ems heo y wi h amily sys ems heo y
seems o p o ide a way o iewing he elephan as a whole” (Hollande and Elman
1988, p. 159).
In his ealm, he de ini ion by Da is and S e n is help ul acco ding o “a amily
i m, as a i m ope a ing in a business en i onmen is in luenced by he o ces
o echnology, en i onmen al complexi y, and unce ain y as any o he i m (...)
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4E. K. Adjei e al.
ex e nal ac o s, [business] and amily issues mus be simul aneously accommoda ed
o acili a e su i al and g ow h” (1980, p. 209, add by he au ho based on he
sen ences in-be ween). In a simila ein, Hollande p oposes ha “a amily business
consis s o wo subsys ems, he amily and he i m, o ming a mac o-sys em which
is esponsi e o he en i onmen . Fu he , i is hypo hesized ha he applica ion o
sys ems concep s o he in e ac i e p ocess be ween he amily, i m and en i onmen
will p oduce new unde s andings ega ding hei in e ela edness” (Hollande 1983,
p. 42).
These ela i ely abs ac concep ualiza ions o (spa ial o egional) con ex as (ex-
e nal) en i onmen s we e o iginally used as desc ip i e and ‘con aine ized ames’
o mo e p ecisely, scales (e.g. mac o-sys em o le el, Hollande 1983). Howe e , no
much igo has been gi en o he e y na u e o (spa ial) con ex in la e s udies and
hei exis ence has been simply aken o g an ed o pa aph ased as ‘home’ o he
local con ex (o en i onmen ) (Kahn and Hende son 1992) and as ‘doing business
ab oad’ o he in e na ional con ex (Gallo and S een 1991). This ma ks an ea ly
di e en ia ion o spa ial con ex .
In e es ingly, only he (in e na ional) con ex (Gallo and Pon 1996;Oko oa o
1999; G a es and Thomas 2004), and o a lesse ex en , he ela ed concep o
‘home bias’ o ‘home egion ocus’ (Gomez-Mejia e al. 2010; Banalie a and Ed-
dles on 2011) has success ully gene a ed a obus esea ch s eam ha is olde han
a decade. This s eam has o en been published wi hin he ealm o in e na ional
business s udies and adjacen jou nals, au ho ed by amily business schola s. Today,
in e na ional(iza ion) is by a he mos ex ensi ely examined (spa ial) con ex (e.g.
Pukall and Calab o 2014; A egle e al. 2017; De Massis e al. 2018; Henna e al.
2019 among many o he s).
2 The con empo a y e-disco e y o he egional and amily i ms’
nexus
Following he deba e opened by S ough e al. (2015) and la e expanded upon by
Basco e al. (2021a) o ad ance he c oss- e iliza ion be ween amily business and
egional disciplines, ou app oach he e is o push his discussion o wa d by shading
new ligh in a wo old and no mu ually exclusi e manne . Con empo a y li e a u e
mainly add esses wo pe spec i es when analyzing ‘ amily i ms and spa ial/ egional
con ex ’ (Basco 2015; Basco and Suwala 2020,2021). Fi s , he egional con ex
pe spec i e ha deals wi h ‘ amily spa iali ies’ in egional science, egional s udies
and economic geog aphy. Second, he amily i ms’ pe spec i e wi hin managemen ,
o ganiza ion and en ep eneu ship s udies ha b ings o wa d he concep o ‘spa ial
amiliness’.
‘Family Spa iali ies’ e e o he di e se ypes (e.g., loca ions, places, landscapes,
and e i o ies) and scales (e.g., local, egional, (in e -)na ional, and global) o spaces,
each wi h a dis inc i e logic ha in luences amily i m beha io (Seaman 2012;
Suwala and Oinas 2012; Basco and Suwala 2020). ‘Spa ial amiliness’ is de ined
as a “spa ially embedded, dis inc i e bundle o esou ces and capabili ies a ising
om amily in ol emen , amily aspi a ion, amily-based o ganiza ional iden i y,
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Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew, agenda aming and u u e esea ch... 5
and amily embeddedness in mul i-scala con ex s” (own elabo a ion based on Hab-
be shon and Williams 1999, p. 11; Weismeie -Samme e al. 2013, p. 174; Basco
2015, p. 267). Bo h ‘ amily spa iali ies’ and ‘spa ial amiliness’ a e he undamen al
sou ces o i m and spa ial he e ogenei y (Basco and Suwala 2020, p. 194). Agains
his backg ound, Basco and Suwala emphasize he need o “mo e in e disciplina y
wo k o add ess esea ch gaps and exchange insigh s on heo e ical, empi ical, and
p ac ical g ounds o be e in es iga e he phenomena o ‘spa ial amiliness’ and
‘ amily spa iali ies’” (2021, p. 23). This call se es as he ounda ion o his special
issue.
To explo e hese unique se ings o amily i ms and he na u e o spa ial/ egional
con ex s in a g ea e dep h, we p o ide a concise li e a u e o e iew on con ex ual-
izing esea ch in his ealm be o e p esen ing ou own amewo k.
Con ex ualizing ‘ esea ch objec s’ has ecen ly gained impo ance wi hin man-
agemen , o ganiza ion and en ep eneu ship s udies in gene al (Johns 2006; Wel e
2011; Hällg en e al. 2018) and amily business s udies in pa icula (W igh e al.
2014; K uege e al. 2021). Va ious ypes o con ex s ha e been acknowledged in
amily business s udies, including o ganiza ional, ins i u ional, cul u al, social, em-
po al and/o spa ial con ex (Ama o e al. 2022; Soleimano e al. 2018; James e al.
2021). The spa ial o egional con ex o be e he link be ween amily i ms and
spa ial/ egional con ex s, he ocus o his special issue, has been app oached in
mani old ways. To unde s and ou new amewo k we aim o p o ide, le us i s
summa ize how he egional con ex has been add essed so a .
Anecdo al ales and consul ing expe iences (e.g., “ amily businesses o en ollow
s a egies ha a e na owly ocused on cus ome needs in local ma ke s” (Gallo
and S een 1991, p. 183)), assump ions (e.g., “ amily businesses a e mo e embed-
ded wi hin he egional communi y han hei non- amily coun e pa s” (Bi d and
Wennbe g 2014, p. 424)),
Li e a u e-based hypo hesis c ea ion (e.g., “ amily i ms appea o be mo e capa-
ble han non- amily i ms o ansla e spa ially embedded esou ce endowmen s
in o g ow h pe o mance (...) posi i e e ec o inc easing local embeddedness on
business g ow h is highe among amily i ms in compa ison o non amily i ms”
(Baù e al. 2019,p.375)),
Model building (e.g., ‘mul iple le el embeddedness con ex s o amily i ms’
(Basco 2017a, p. 249) o ‘ ee model’ whe e he place a achmen o he owning
amily po ays he ‘local oo s’ o he i m (Ama o and Pa uelli 2023, pp. 57–58)).
In a mo e sys emic manne , spa ial con ex is conside ed as a mul i-scala (Basco
2017a; Selcuk and Suwala 2020), mul i- unc ional (Basco 2017b) and e en me hod-
ological and heo y-building en i y (Gomez-Mejia e al. 2020; Ama o e al. 2022).
Whe eas Selcuk and Suwala (2020, p. 6) de elop a mul i-s akeholde (ac o , am-
ily, communi y) and scala (mic o, meso, mac o) con ex amewo k o mig an
amily en ep eneu ship, Basco (2017b, p. 249) highligh s he mani old si ua ional,
con ingen , and pa h-dependen ace s o con ex . An in e es ing app oach o spa ial
con ex is p oposed by Gomez-Mejia e al. (2020, p. 133); hey di e en ia e be ween
‘con ex by sampling’, ‘con ex by compa ison’ and ‘con ex by heo izing’, he eby
a ibu ing a non-uni e sal and ela ional meaning o con ex beyond black-boxes
K
6E. K. Adjei e al.
Fig. 1 S a model o amily
i ms and spa ial con ex (own
elabo a ion)
and con aine s o ope a ionaliza ion, as he le el o e e ence (see also K uege
e al. 2021).
Agains his backg ound, and al hough he e is no cohe en amewo k on spa ial/
egional con ex s, we aim o sys ema ize, apply, and con inue wo k done by Basco
and Suwala (2020,2021), who p o ide a li e a u e o e iew on amily i ms and
spa ial/ egional con ex . In pu sui o his goal, we p opose he ollowing ‘s a model’
(Fig. 1).
The i e p ongs o he s a and he su ounding ci cles a e equally impo an ,
in e wo en in eali y wi h pe meable bo de s be ween in e nal and ex e nal spa ial
con ex s wi hin and beyond he i m, ye hey delinea e di e en logics. The h ee
uppe p ongs ( heo y, empi ics, policy) ou line a adi ional scien i ic app oach, o-
cusing on desc ip ion, explana ion, and design. In ou unde s anding spa ial con ex
se es mul iple unc ions: i enables heo e ical explana ions and modelling (spa-
ial concep s), suppo s empi ical desc ip ions and analyses (spa ial ac o s, spa ial
s uc u es, spa ial se ings), and in o ms policy ecommenda ions (spa ial policies).
These elemen s a e shaped by scala (spa ial ames) and empo al ames (spa ial
p ocesses).
In gene al, a ious app oaches and pe spec i es owa ds spa ial/ egional con ex
a e concei able. Deduc i ely by acing he his o y o hough in egional disci-
plines o amily business s udies, o induc i ely by analyzing pape s and a icles,
gi en ha he nexus is no el. Mo eo e , depending on he ocus, one can adop
a heo e ically in o med app oach (e.g., modeling and iden i ying o uni e sal ci -
cums ances), a p ac ice-based app oach (e.g., hands-on expe ience and managemen
ad ice), a policy-based app oach (e.g., ollowing a ce ain agenda—g ow h, em-
ploymen , well-being), o a combina ion o hese app oaches.
As he e exis s li e a u e ha add esses each o hese p ongs in o he esea ch
(in pa icula Basco and Suwala 2020,2021, pp. 21–22), we will now ocus on
in es iga ing he idiosync a ic meaning o each ci cle o con ex ualiza ion, wi h
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Family i ms and egional con ex : li e a u e o e iew, agenda aming and u u e esea ch... 7
an emphasis on (ex e nal) spa ial/ egional con ex s1and ci e selec ed li e a u e o
exempli y hei signi icance2.
Theo izing con ex es ablishes he on ological and epis emological ounda ions
and implies a speci ic con ex ual logic o unde lying models. In his ealm, a ious
concep s o space ha e been de eloped and applied in he con ex o amily i ms,
such as abs ac , ela i e, ela ional o opical spaces (Suwala 2014,2021;Ama o
2020; Basco and Suwala, 2020,2021; Ama o and Pa uelli 2023) o concep ual, cul-
u al, communi y, and con ingency spaces (Seaman 2012,2013,2015). Fo example,
K uege e al. (2021, p. 3) use ela ional space o con ex ualizing amily i ms in
he A ab wo d.
Empi ically in es iga ing con ex is by a he mos ex ensi e s and in li e a u e.
Spa ial ac o s and/o a iables a e p ima ily used o measu e and/o compa e con-
ex ual dimensions a ec ing amily i ms hemsel es o hei impac on a desi able
( egional) ou come such as employmen (Backman and Palmbe g 2015; Ama o e al.
2021), inno a ion (Block and Spiegel 2013; Be lemann and Jahn 2016), p oduc i i y
(Adjei e al. 2016; Adjei and E iksson 2021; Ama o e al. 2023), expo s (Ama o
e al. 2020; Basco e al. 2023), ( egional) pe o mance (Mu i hi and Be a 2021)o
g ow h (Adjei e al. 2019). The spa ial s uc u es o se ings s and exempli ies how
egional con ex is in luenced by amily i ms and/o is in luencing amily i m in
speci ic e i o ial a angemen s such as indus ial dis ic s (Cucculelli and S o ai
2015; Pi ino e al. 2021), ne wo ks (Seaman e al. 2017; Ghinoi e al. 2024) and/o
clus e s (G asho 2025 in his issue; Mendes e al. 2025 in his issue). He eby, ce -
ain con ex ual and spa ially d i en sel - ein o cing mechanism (see o o e iew
Suwala 2023) such as (spa ial) embeddedness (Basco 2017a, b, 2024; Bau e al.
2019; Selcuk and Suwala 2020; Bichle e al. 2022), u baniza ion/agglome a ion
economies (Bannò e al. 2020; Basco e al. 2021b), p oximi y (Kahn and Hende son
1992; Adjei e al. 2016; Ma yniuk and Gie usz 2016) as well as local oo s and/o
place a achmen come in o play (Ama o and Pa uelli 2023; Ama o e al. 2024).
Poli ically designing con ex explo es how con ex such as egional laws, egula-
ions, s a ues o in gene al ins i u ions (spa ial policies) a ec amily i ms (Glassop
and G a es 2010; Basco and Ba ke iˇ
ci¯
u ˙
e2016; Rico a and Basco 2021; Basco
2024; Sac is án-Na a o e al. 2025 in his issue). Con e sely, i also examines how
amily i ms shape and in luence hei local and egional en i onmen s, as well as
1In e nal spa ial (and egional) con ex s will be men ioned whe e applicable. Examples o in e nal spa ial
(and egional) con ex s o he i m can be he o ganiza ion and design o he wo kplace in he ac o y (e.g.
5S sys em wi hin lean manu ac u ing) ha allows o he e icien use o space o economies o scale and/o
scope (e.g. Suwala e al. 2022).
2I has o be men ioned ha mos a icles encompass mo e han one ype o con ex . Since we do see
a g owing o e lap be ween bo h disciplines, we do acknowledge his new egionally-in o med con ex ual
esea ch on amily i m and do no sepa a e he o igins in he s udies as done in Basco and Suwala (2021).
A new hyb id gene a ion o esea che s such as Adjei e al. (2016,2019) o Ama o e al. (2021,2022,
2023) binding bo h disciplines is mo eo e on he ise.
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8E. K. Adjei e al.
ins i u ions se ups, by ailo ing spa ial policies o hei needs (Albe s and Suwala
2021a, b; G a enbe ge and Gö ma 2021; Rie mann 2023).
Scales se e as spa ial ames o con ex ualiza ion by sampling in o de o de-
limi spa ial en i ies o in es iga ion. They can span om local (Seaman e al. 2017),
egional (Banalie a and Eddles on 2011; Welch e al. 2025 in his issue), na ional
(Chang e al. 2008; A eaga and Basco 2023; Beck e al. 2025 in his issue), in e -
na ional (Pongelli e al. 2019) o global le els (De Massis e al. 2018). Simila ly,
mic o-, meso-, and mac o-le els unc ion as mul i-scala ca ego iza ion measu es
(see Basco 2017a, b; Selcuk and Suwala 2020; Basco e al. 2021a). Ano he ap-
p oach o spa ial s uc u es in ol es examining speci ic loca ions (e.g., Wenzhou,
Yeung 2000; Gnosjö, Wig en 2003; spa sely popula ed egions, Lundbe g and Öbe g
2021), b oade egional classi ica ions (e.g. Eu ope, Cappelli e al. 2021; Sou heas
Asia, Samphan ha ak 2019), o linguis ic o cul u al a eas (e.g. Cen al-Eas e n Eu-
ope, Domanska e al. 2023; La in Ame ica, Mülle e al. 2018; Ibe oam ica, Gomez-
Mejia e al. 2020).
Time unc ions as a c ucial dimension o es ablishing empo al ames in con-
ex ualizing spa ial p ocesses. This dimension adds dynamism o esea ch by
inco po a ing e ical pe spec i es (e.g. global alue chains, Debellis e al. 2024;
sou cing s a egies, Pongelli e al. 2019) ho izon al pe spec i es (e.g. egional
ne wo king, Tui je and Küppe 2022) o longi udinal spa ial pe spec i es (e.g.
Fe nández-Pé ez 2002) on amily i ms. Among he mos ex ensi ely esea ch
opics is he p ocess o in e na ionaliza ion o amily i ms, which explo es de e mi-
nan s, pa hways, and ou comes among many o he dynamic dimensions (e.g. Gallo
and Pon 1996; G a es and Thomas 2008; A egle e al. 2017; De Massis e al. 2018).
In a b oade sense, ensions be ween a ious spa ial ames (home, e i o y o
locali y s. in e na ionaliza ion o globaliza ion) (Baschie i e al. 2017; Kano and
Ve beke 2018; Henna e al. 2019; Bau e al. 2021; Ran agni e al. 2021) illus a e
complex space- ime p ocesses. Finally, se e al models aim o sys ema ically explain
he ela ionship be ween amily i ms and egional con ex , such as he egional
amiliness model and he spa ial managemen model. These models in eg a e a ious
building blocks, including spa ial ac o s, p ocesses, concep s, scales (Basco 2015;
Suwala 2021; Basco and Suwala 2020,2021).
3 Con ibu ions o he a icles in he special issue
While di e se in scale and scope, he i e s udies in his special issue highligh
he amily business and spa ial/ egional con ex nexus. All s udies a e empi ical in
na u e, le e aging la ge quan i a i e da ase s h ough igo ous econome ic me hod-
ologies and inco po a ing mul iple dimensions o spa ial con ex o hei esea ch
pu poses.
The i s pape , “Familia bu also adical? The mode a ing ole o egional clus-
e s o amily i ms in he eme gence o adical inno a ion” by G asho , examines
K
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