本研究目的在探討臺灣大型市場組織中存在已久的親屬關聯之現象，並藉著回顧主要的理論傳統、推論研究假設，並進行統計測試以尋求適當的解釋機制。本研究根據2008年中華徵信出版之臺灣集團企業名錄500餘家樣本，大規模蒐集並比對各集團企業之間的分家、聯姻以及合夥經營所產生的親屬網絡資訊，並建構分析模型與分析。研究發現家族控制越鞏固、集團規模越大，政商關係較佳、以及具備壟斷或寡占經驗之集團，產生親屬網絡頻率越高。經驗分析肯證家族論與政治經濟論的觀點，而挑戰後工業化理論的論點。本研究探討此發現在組織研究、經濟社會學、階級分析與經濟發展等相關理論之意涵，並建議未來研究方向。

Scholars in East Asian studies have long recognized Chinese familism as an important cultural practice underlying economic life in Taiwan. Under familism, kinship dynamics represent a pivotal governing force in the organization of business ownership, control networks, and expansion
strategies. Two questions emerge: Do visible global kinship networks
exist within markets long perceived as family capitalism archetypes? If
so, what factors affect kinship formation among business groups? While
business group researchers in Taiwan have long examined the intra-group
dimensions of kinship ties, few systematic studies have focused on intergroup dimensions. In this study, hypotheses derived from three major
theoretical traditions—familism, political economy, and post-ndustrialism—
are formulated and tested using a large body of data on business groups and kinship networks among business owners. The data support the familism
and political economy perspectives and refute the post-industrial hypothesis. Theoretical implications for organization studies, economic sociology, and class analysis are discussed.