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Who prefers working in family firms? An exploratory study of individuals’ organizational preferences across 40 countries

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  • Block, Jörn H.
  • Fisch, Christian O.
  • Lau, James
  • Obschonka, Martin
  • Presse, André

Abstract

Employees can work in family or in non-family firms. Using a sample of more than 12,000 individuals in 40 countries, we investigate this particular occupational choice decision by exploring individual preferences to work in family firms. Our results show that socio-demographic, occupation-related, and entrepreneurship-related variables influence the preference to work in family firms. For example, a preference to work in family firms correlates positively with being female, a positive opinion on entrepreneurs, and self-employment intention, while it correlates negatively with length of full-time education, living in an urban area, being a manager, and entrepreneurship education. Our results help family firms with regard to recruiting of non-family employees and employer branding.

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  • Block, Jörn H. & Fisch, Christian O. & Lau, James & Obschonka, Martin & Presse, André, 2016. "Who prefers working in family firms? An exploratory study of individuals’ organizational preferences across 40 countries," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 65-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:7:y:2016:i:2:p:65-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2016.04.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Arijs, Diane & Botero, Isabel C. & Michiels, Anneleen & Molly, Vincent, 2018. "Family business employer brand: Understanding applicants’ perceptions and their job pursuit intentions with samples from the US and Belgium," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 180-191.
    3. Arnd Kölling & Claus Schnabel, 2022. "Owners, external managers and industrial relations in German establishments," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 424-443, June.
    4. Waterwall, Brian & Alipour, Kent K., 2021. "Nonfamily employees’ perceptions of treatment in family businesses: Implications for organizational attraction, job pursuit intentions, work attitudes, and turnover intentions," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    5. Fabel, Oliver & Mináriková, Dana & Hopp, Christian, 2022. "Differences and similarities in executive hiring decisions of family and non-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    6. Christensen-Salem, Amanda & Mesquita, Luiz F. & Hashimoto, Marcos & Hom, Peter W. & Gomez-Mejia, Luis R., 2021. "Family firms are indeed better places to work than non-family firms! Socioemotional wealth and employees’ perceived organizational caring," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1).
    7. Jörn H. Block & Christian O. Fisch & James Lau & Martin Obschonka & André Presse, 2019. "How Do Labor Market Institutions Influence the Preference to Work in Family Firms? A Multilevel Analysis Across 40 Countries," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(6), pages 1067-1093, November.
    8. Llanos-Contreras, Orlando & Alonso-Dos-Santos, Manuel & Welsh, Dianne H.B., 2024. "Graduating college students apply here: Communicating family firm ownership and firm size," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    9. Hanqing Fang & James J. Chrisman & Joshua J. Daspit & Kristen Madison, 2022. "Do Nonfamily Managers Enhance Family Firm Performance?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1459-1474, March.
    10. Criaco, Giuseppe & van Oosterhout, J. (Hans) & Nordqvist, Mattias, 2021. "Is blood always thicker than water? Family firm parents, kinship ties, and the survival of spawns," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    11. Jain, Shalini Sarin & Fernando, Guy D. & Tripathy, Arindam & Bhatia, Sandhya, 2021. "Closing the gender gap in top management teams: An examination of diversity and compensation parity in family and non-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4).
    12. Tsao, Chiung-Wen & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny & Chen, Shyh-Jer, 2021. "Firing managers: The benefits of family ownership and costs of family management," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    13. Campopiano, Giovanna & De Massis, Alfredo & Rinaldi, Francesca Romana & Sciascia, Salvatore, 2017. "Women’s involvement in family firms: Progress and challenges for future research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 200-212.
    14. Llach, Josep & Sanchez-Famoso, Valeriano & Danes, Sharon M., 2023. "Unmasking nonfamily employees’ complex contribution to family business performance: A place identity theory approach," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).

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