Working longer can sometimes do more harm than good

The existing literature on the legitimacy of daughters in the succession process of family businesses tends to separate the analysis between, on the one hand, the role of successor daughters and, on the other hand, the networks that activate and validate their legitimacy. This separation sustains a dualism in the conceptualization of relationships between successor daughters and the various stakeholders. This study addresses this gap by drawing on Strong Structuration Theory and the analysis of five cases of successor daughters. The results highlight that the social legitimacy of successor daughters in family businesses is the result of a continuous interaction between individual agency and social structures, within a logic of duality. It proposes a conceptualization of legitimacy as a dynamic process of social co-construction. The study reveals the interdependence between personal legitimacy and entrepreneurial legitimacy, which mutually reinforce each other through intertwined structuration cycles. This articulation contributes to the progressive co-construction of social legitimacy, emphasizing its evolving and adaptive nature.