O campo de pesquisas sobre empresas familiares no brasil: análise da produ？？o científica no período 1997-2009

the purpose of this paper is to analyze brazilian scientific production on family businesses, assessing articles published between 1997 and 2009. we conducted a literature review, focusing on the identification of patterns that highlight some key aspects of the current status of the field, such as: family business concept; research themes; research approach; research method; research strategy; data collection and data analysis techniques. the results indicate the existence of an emerging field in the brazilian academic scenario, which has shown progress in recent years, particularly in terms of an increase in published papers. family business research plays a potential role as it becomes a relevant academic alternative for research production and for the development of theories in the area of management and organizational studies in brazil.