Family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face both general bounded rationality challenges and a unique expression of bounded rationality in their internationalization process: the bifurcation bias, a concept aligned with modern transaction cost theory (TCT). We argue that efficient governance in family SMEs, and especially features of the Board of Directors’ composition, can help alleviate bounded rationality. Complementing TCT with upper echelons theory (UET), we investigate which Board characteristics in family SMEs contribute to efficient governance and the ensuing strategy decisions. We focus specifically on strategy decisions in the internationalization sphere. Our empirical analysis of survey data from 328 Belgian family SMEs, operating out of a small open economy, reveals that family SMEs internationalize more if their Boards are ‘open’, ‘inclusive’, ‘experienced’ and ‘active’. These Board characteristics, all reflective of efficient governance, i.e., providing the Board with the capacity to alleviate bounded rationality constraints, positively contribute to internationalization, especially (and perhaps paradoxically) when the family SME is managed by a CEO who is also a family member.

家族式中小企业 (SME) 既面临一般的有限理性挑战，也面临其国际化过程中有限理性的独特表现形式：分叉偏差，这是一个符合现代交易成本理论 (TCT) 的概念。我们认为，家族式中小企业的有效治理，尤其是董事会组成的特征，有助于缓解有限理性。将 TCT 与上层梯队理论 (UET) 相辅相成，我们调查了家族中小企业的哪些董事会特征有助于有效治理和随后的战略决策。我们特别关注国际化领域的战略决策。我们对来自小型开放经济体的 328 家比利时家族中小企业的调查数据进行了实证分析，表明，如果董事会“开放”、“包容”、“经验丰富”和“活跃”，家族中小企业的国际化程度更高。这些董事会特征都反映了有效的治理，即为董事会提供减轻有限理性约束的能力，为国际化做出了积极贡献，尤其是（也许自相矛盾地）当家族中小企业由同时也是家族成员的 CEO 管理时.