The family business literature barely addresses wives’ influence in family business succession. Where it does so, the result is often tokenistic, stereotypical, and imprecise. Drawing on 34 in-depth interviews, this article makes three contributions. First, it identifies wives’ critical influence in family business succession through socialization across the life span of the family business; specifically, through normative, interactive, and experiential socialization. Second, it demonstrates the diverse dynamics and impact of wives’ influence on family business continuity. Third, it highlights the particular significance of experiential socialization, whereby changing expectations of marriage and family life have amplified wives’ influence in succession outcomes.

家族企业文献几乎没有提到妻子对家族企业继承的影响。如果这样做，结果通常是象征性的、刻板的和不精确的。本文通过 34 次深度访谈，做出了三点贡献。首先，它通过家族企业整个生命周期的社会化，确定了妻子对家族企业继承的关键影响；具体而言，通过规范的、互动的和体验式的社会化。其次，它展示了妻子对家族企业连续性的影响的不同动态和影响。第三，它突出了体验式社会化的特殊意义，即不断变化的婚姻和家庭生活期望放大了妻子对继承结果的影响。