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Market Opportunities and the Owner Identity. Are Family Firms different?

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  • Marco Cucculelli

    (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Economics "Giorgio Fu…")

  • Francesco Marchionne

    (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Economics "Giorgio Fu…")

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that the identity of the owner affects firm ability to seize market opportunities differently according to the firm's actual vs. "optimal" size (size gap). By grouping firms in size clusters having a similar probability of adopting a size-adjusting strategy (growth or downsizing), we measure how the sensitivity of firm sales to demand shocks changes in response to the difference in owner identity and the firm size gap. We use data from a panel of 7,459 continental western European firms over the period 1995-2004 and Eurostat 3-digit sectoral data on firm size distribution in Europe. Our findings show that family business sales are less sensitive to market demand than other firms, particularly when the actual firm size is larger than optimal size.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Cucculelli & Francesco Marchionne, 2009. "Market Opportunities and the Owner Identity. Are Family Firms different?," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 32, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:anc:wmofir:32
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Carlos Poblete & Felipe Rifo & Joana Huaman, 2021. "The Role of Circular Business Modeling in the Entrepreneurial Identity-Construction Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Claudia Pongelli & Matteo Giuliano Caroli & Marco Cucculelli, 2016. "Family business going abroad: the effect of family ownership on foreign market entry mode decisions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 787-801, October.
    4. Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2016. "Family Firms and Productivity: The Role of Institutional Quality," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 343-343, September.
    5. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2016. "Do Firms Benefit from University Research? Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(3), pages 445-471, November.
    6. Ang, Tze Chuan 'Chewie' & Azad, A.S.M. Sohel & Pham, Thu A.T. & Zhong, Angel, 2021. "Firm efficiency and stock returns: Australian evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2012. "University And Firm Performance In The Italian Manufacturing Sector," Working Papers 201207, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    8. Zanon, Johanna & Scholl-Grissemann, Ursula & Kallmuenzer, Andreas & Kleinhansl, Nikolas & Peters, Mike, 2019. "How promoting a family firm image affects customer perception in the age of social media," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 28-37.
    9. Joel Bothello & Ioannis Ioannou & Vlad‐Andrei Porumb & Yasemin Zengin‐Karaibrahimoglu, 2023. "CSR decoupling within business groups and the risk of perceived greenwashing," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(13), pages 3217-3251, December.
    10. Marco Cucculelli & Ivano Dileo & Marco Pini, 2022. "Filling the void of family leadership: institutional support to business model changes in the Italian Industry 4.0 experience," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 213-241, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    family firms; optimal size class; owner identity; performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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