IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jbemgt/v16y2015i6p1069-1084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family characteristics and governance of small and medium-sized family firms

Author

Listed:
  • J. Augusto Felício
  • Maria Purificación Galindo Villardón

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of family characteristics on the governance of small and medium-sized family firms. The study presents and tests a theoretical model resorting to data on 151 Portuguese SMEs. The study uses nonlinear principal component analysis by alternating least squares, bivariate analysis and cluster analysis. Family characteristics influence governance mechanisms and family firms form clusters based on family characteristics and governance mechanisms. The results reveal that family characteristics are a source of heterogeneity among family firms which corroborates the criticism on family firms' homogeneity assumption. The identification of clusters of firms constitutes a reference for family firms' definition of governance models. The originality of the paper relies on the analysis of specific family characteristics and its importance as a source of family firms' heterogeneity is proven. This study opens new insights on family firms' governance research and may be extended to other family characteristics and overall implications on performance.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Augusto Felício & Maria Purificación Galindo Villardón, 2015. "Family characteristics and governance of small and medium-sized family firms," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(6), pages 1069-1084, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:16:y:2015:i:6:p:1069-1084
    DOI: 10.3846/16111699.2012.747446
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.3846/16111699.2012.747446
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3846/16111699.2012.747446?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Shaker A. Zahra, 2003. "Creating Wealth in Family Firms through Managing Resources: Comments and Extensions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 359-365, October.
    2. James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma & Lloyd P. Steier & Jess H. Chua, 2013. "The Influence of Family Goals, Governance, and Resources on Firm Outcomes," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1249-1261, November.
    3. Carlos Fernández & Rubén Arrondo, 2005. "Alternative Internal Controls as Substitutes of the Board of Directors," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(6), pages 856-866, November.
    4. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    5. Amore, Mario Daniele & Minichilli, Alessandro & Corbetta, Guido, 2011. "How do managerial successions shape corporate financial policies in family firms?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1016-1027, September.
    6. David L. Deephouse & Peter Jaskiewicz, 2013. "Do Family Firms Have Better Reputations Than Non-Family Firms? An Integration of Socioemotional Wealth and Social Identity Theories," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 337-360, May.
    7. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2010. "The power of the family," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 93-125, June.
    8. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Lloyd P. Steier & Sabine B. Rau, 2012. "Sources of Heterogeneity in Family Firms: An Introduction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1103-1113, November.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Bengt Johannisson & Morten Huse, 2000. "Recruiting outside board members in the small family business: an ideological challenge," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 353-378, October.
    11. Chris Graves & Jill Thomas, 2004. "Internationalisation of the family business: a longitudinal perspective," International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1), pages 7-27.
    12. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2003. "Agency Problems in Large Family Business Groups," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 367-382, October.
    13. McGuire, Jean & Dow, Sandra & Ibrahim, Bakr, 2012. "All in the family? Social performance and corporate governance in the family firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1643-1650.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bojan Obrenovic & Jianguo Du & Danijela Godinic & Diana Tsoy & Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan & Ilimdorjon Jakhongirov, 2020. "Sustaining Enterprise Operations and Productivity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: “Enterprise Effectiveness and Sustainability Model”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen-Ting Lin & Linda C. Wang, 2021. "Family firms, R&D, and internationalization: the stewardship and socio-emotional wealth perspectives," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 91-119, March.
    2. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller & Lloyd P. Steier, 2018. "Governance Mechanisms and Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 171-186, March.
    3. Miller, Danny & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Amore, Mario Daniele & Minichilli, Alessandro & Corbetta, Guido, 2017. "Institutional logics, family firm governance and performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 674-693.
    4. Fuxiu Jiang & Xiaojia Zheng & Wei Tang, 2018. "Non-family chair and corporate performance," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, December.
    5. Lee, Tingko, 2019. "Management ties and firm performance: Influence of family governance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 105-118.
    6. Jiang, Fuxiu & Wang, Weiyi & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2024. "Board chair and credit rating of family firms: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Cornelius Hafner, 2021. "Diversification in family firms: a systematic review of product and international diversification strategies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 529-572, April.
    8. Fuentes-Lombardo, Guadalupe & Sanchez-Famoso, Valeriano & Cano-Rubio, Myriam, 2023. "Reasons for internationalisation of family business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    9. Madden, Laura & McMillan, Amy & Harris, Oneil, 2020. "Drivers of selectivity in family firms: Understanding the impact of age and ownership on CSR," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    10. Jenny Kragl & Alberto Palermo & Guoqian Xi & Joern Block, 2023. "Hiring family or non-family managers when non-economic (sustainability) goals matter? A multitask agency model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 675-700, August.
    11. Vazquez, Pedro & Rocha, Héctor, 2018. "On the goals of family firms: A review and integration," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 94-106.
    12. Mike W. Peng & Wei Sun & Cristina Vlas & Alessandro Minichilli & Guido Corbetta, 2018. "An Institution-Based View of Large Family Firms: A Recap and Overview," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 187-205, March.
    13. Franco Ernesto Rubino & Paolo Tenuta & Domenico Rocco Cambrea, 2017. "Board characteristics effects on performance in family and non-family business: a multi-theoretical approach," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 623-658, September.
    14. Ginesti, Gianluca & Ossorio, Mario & Dawson, Alexandra, 2023. "Family businesses and debt maturity structure: Focusing on family involvement in governance to explain heterogeneity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    15. Katrien Jansen & Anneleen Michiels & Wim Voordeckers & Tensie Steijvers, 2023. "Financing decisions in private family firms: a family firm pecking order," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 495-515, August.
    16. Minghui Yang & Yan Wang & Lu Bai & Petra Maresova, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility, family involvement, and stock price crash risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1204-1225, May.
    17. Marco Cucculelli & Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2014. "Owner‐Management, Firm Age, and Productivity in Italian Family Firms," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 325-343, April.
    18. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Alfredo Massis & Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 719-734, October.
    19. Matthias Filser & Alexander Brem & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Andrea Calabrò, 2016. "Innovation In Family Firms — Examining The Inventory And Mapping The Path," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(06), pages 1-39, August.
    20. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Andros Gregoriou, 2010. "‘Family’ Ownership, Tunnelling And Earnings Management: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 705-730, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:16:y:2015:i:6:p:1069-1084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TBEM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.