Lopez-Vergara, Maria Piedad Understanding family shareholders in family firms: An exploration of the role of family dynamics in the development of family shareholders’ behaviours. Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 2013, p. (Jyvaskyla Studies in Business and Economics ISSN 1457-1986; 139) ISBN 978-951-39-5467-3 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-5468-0 (PDF) One of the most important stakeholders for the family firm is the family shareholder. The feelings and behaviours that family shareholders have towards their family firm influence the success, long-term vision and family business performance. Despite the influence that family shareholders have on the firm, the understanding about family shareholders behaviour has received relatively little attention in the family firm context. Therefore, this dissertation presented the following three objectives: 1) To obtain an understanding of family shareholders’ behaviours in family firms, 2) To explore the role that family dynamics play in family shareholders’ behavior and 3) To understand how family dynamics contribute to family shareholders’ behaviours. In order to achieve these objectives, research questions were answered by exploratory studies presented in four research articles. The research methodology was mainly qualitative. The research data was collected using cases studies and indepth interviews with family shareholders from family firms in Finland and Colombia. The main findings indicated that family shareholders’ behaviours are developed by family dynamics. Findings from this dissertation suggested that: (i) There are different family dynamics that play a role in the development of family shareholders’ behaviours. (ii) Family dynamics could be considered as an important characteristic of family culture and (iii) Not all the family shareholders are alike. Each one of them has some unique characteristics that contribute to the family firm. Family shareholders could experience different behaviours according to different family dynamics. Findings from this dissertation presented important implications for research in Family Businesses. First, it is necessary to understand family dynamics and how these interactions between family shareholders contribute in their behaviours towards the firm. Second, it is necessary to know that family shareholders have their own characteristics and motivations to experience specific behaviours towards the family firm. Future research should focus on how these family dynamics could be promoted.