IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02496359.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Influence of family ownership on small business growth. Evidence from French SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Anaïs Hamelin

    (LARGE - Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg)

Abstract

The performance implications of family ownership have been studied extensively. However, studies that investigate the influence of family ownership on small business growth remain scarce and suffer from several shortcomings. To remedy these shortcomings, this paper uses a very large sample of French SMEs to explore the relationship between family ownership and small business growth. First, this study shows that there is a negative, although non-monotonic, relationship between family ownership and small business economic growth. Second, it explores the channel through which family ownership affects firm growth. Results suggest that firms with greater family ownership are prone to below-potential rates of economic growth, given their internal financing resources. Overall, the results suggest that small family businesses have a propensity to deliberately limit their growth (i.e., they adopt conservative growth behavior).

Suggested Citation

  • Anaïs Hamelin, 2013. "Influence of family ownership on small business growth. Evidence from French SMEs," Post-Print hal-02496359, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02496359
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-012-9452-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2007. "Performance and Behavior of Family Firms: Evidence from the French Stock Market," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(4), pages 709-751, June.
    2. Cronqvist, Henrik & Nilsson, Mattias, 2003. "Agency Costs of Controlling Minority Shareholders," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(4), pages 695-719, December.
    3. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    4. Julian Franks & Colin Mayer & Paolo Volpin & Hannes F. Wagner, 2012. "The Life Cycle of Family Ownership: International Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(6), pages 1675-1712.
    5. Gavin Cassar, 2007. "Money, money, money? A longitudinal investigation of entrepreneur career reasons, growth preferences and achieved growth," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 89-107, January.
    6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    7. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    8. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    9. Luc Laeven & Christopher Woodruff, 2007. "The Quality of the Legal System, Firm Ownership, and Firm Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(4), pages 601-614, November.
    10. 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.
    11. Ødegaard, Bernt Arne, 2009. "The diversification cost of large, concentrated equity stakes. How big is it? Is it justified?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 56-72, June.
    12. David G. Sirmon & Michael A. Hitt, 2003. "Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 339-358, October.
    13. Krishna B. Kumar & Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, "undated". "What Determines Firm Size?," CRSP working papers 496, Center for Research in Security Prices, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.
    14. Bertrand, Marianne & Johnson, Simon & Samphantharak, Krislert & Schoar, Antoinette, 2008. "Mixing family with business: A study of Thai business groups and the families behind them," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 466-498, June.
    15. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    16. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    17. King, Michael R. & Santor, Eric, 2008. "Family values: Ownership structure, performance and capital structure of Canadian firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 2423-2432, November.
    18. Demsetz, Harold & Lehn, Kenneth, 1985. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1155-1177, December.
    19. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    20. Cull, Robert & Davis, Lance E. & Lamoreaux, Naomi R. & Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent, 2006. "Historical financing of small- and medium-size enterprises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 3017-3042, November.
    21. repec:bla:germec:v:7:y:2006:i::p:233-247 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Thomas Zellweger & Philipp Sieger, 2012. "Entrepreneurial orientation in long-lived family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 67-84, January.
    23. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2009. "Founder-CEOs, Investment Decisions, and Stock Market Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 439-466, April.
    24. Andres, Christian, 2008. "Large shareholders and firm performance--An empirical examination of founding-family ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 431-445, September.
    25. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    26. Harvey James, 1999. "Owner as Manager, Extended Horizons and the Family Firm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 41-55.
    27. Hillman,Arye L., 2009. "Public Finance and Public Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521494267, April.
    28. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1992. "An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(3), pages 473-494.
    29. Timothy Dunne & Mark J. Roberts & Larry Samuelson, 1988. "Patterns of Firm Entry and Exit in U.S. Manufacturing Industries," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(4), pages 495-515, Winter.
    30. Wen-Hsien Tsai & Yi-Chen Kuo & Jung-Hua Hung, 2009. "Corporate diversification and CEO turnover in family businesses: self-entrenchment or risk reduction?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 57-76, January.
    31. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 745-778, September.
    32. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    33. James S. Ang & James Wuh Lin & Floyd Tyler, 1995. "Evidence on the Lack of Separation between Business and Personal Risks among Small Businesses," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 4(2), pages 197-210, Fall.
    34. Trond Randøy & Clay Dibrell & Justin Craig, 2009. "Founding family leadership and industry profitability," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 397-407, April.
    35. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:2167-2202 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2006. "The Role of Family in Family Firms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    37. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2008. "Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 467-487, September.
    38. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Hillman,Arye L., 2009. "Public Finance and Public Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521738057, April.
    40. Wenyi Chu, 2009. "The influence of family ownership on SME performance: evidence from public firms in Taiwan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 353-373, October.
    41. Douglas, Evan J. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2000. "Entrepreneurship as a utility maximizing response," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 231-251, May.
    42. Maury, Benjamin, 2006. "Family ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Western European corporations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 321-341, January.
    43. Cayssials, J-L. & Kremp, E. & Peter, C., 2007. "Dix années de dynamique financière des PME en France," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 165, pages 31-48.
    44. Larry H. P. Lang & Mara Faccio & Leslie Young, 2001. "Dividends and Expropriation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 54-78, March.
    45. Barth, Erling & Gulbrandsen, Trygve & Schonea, Pal, 2005. "Family ownership and productivity: the role of owner-management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 107-127, March.
    46. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    47. Meghana Ayyagari & Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt, 2007. "Small and Medium Enterprises Across the Globe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 415-434, December.
    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. Johanna Vanderstraeten & Ellen Loots & Anais Hamelin & Arjen van Witteloostuijn, 2020. "Micro-foundations of small business internationalization: introduction to the Special Section," Post-Print hal-03015594, HAL.
    2. Wu, Hangyao & Xu, Zeshui & Skare, Marinko, 2022. "How do family businesses adapt to the rapid pace of globalization? a bibliometric analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 59-74.
    3. Backman, Mikaela & Palmberg, Johanna, 2015. "Contextualizing small family firms: How does the urban–rural context affect firm employment growth?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 247-258.
    4. María J. Martínez-Romero & Julio Diéguez-Soto & Pieter Vandekerkhof, 2023. "Enlightening the influence of family TMT involvement on firm growth and degrowth rates," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 581-610, September.
    5. Tauer, Loren, 2014. "Are two heads better than one head in managing the farm business?," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 165739, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Andersson, Fredrik W. & Johansson, Dan & Karlsson, Johan & Lodefalk, Magnus & Poldahl, Andreas, 2017. "The Characteristics and Performance of Family Firms: Exploiting information on ownership, governance and kinship using total population data," Working Papers 2017:1, Örebro University, School of Business.
    7. Maggioni, Daniela & Santangelo, Grazia D., 2017. "Local Environmental Non-Profit Organizations and the Green Investment Strategies of Family Firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 126-138.
    8. Ferri, Giovanni & Murro, Pierluigi & Pini, Marco, 2020. "Credit rationing and the relationship between family businesses and banks in Italy," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    9. Ku-Hsieh Chen & Pei-Hwa Chen & Julie Ann Elston & Yingchao Zhang, 2023. "Are family firms more efficient? Revisiting the U-shaped curve of scale and efficiency," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 983-1008, October.
    10. Donatella Depperu & Giacomo Magnani & Lisa Crosato & Caterina Liberati, 2021. "Growth of Firms in a Fragmented Cultural Industry: Italian Commercial Art Galleries’ Competitive Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Isabel Feito-Ruiz & Clara Cardone-Riportella & Susana Menéndez-Requejo, 2014. "SMEs’ Delisting Decisions on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM): Family Holders and Financial Crisis," Working Papers 14.02, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting (former Department of Business Administration).
    12. Moreno-Menéndez, Ana M. & Casillas, José C., 2021. "How do family businesses grow? Differences in growth patterns between family and non-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    13. Fredrik W. Andersson & Dan Johansson & Johan Karlsson & Magnus Lodefalk & Andreas Poldahl, 2018. "The characteristics of family firms: exploiting information on ownership, kinship, and governance using total population data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 539-556, October.
    14. Massimo Baù & Francesco Chirico & Daniel Pittino & Mikaela Backman & Johan Klaesson, 2019. "Roots to Grow: Family Firms and Local Embeddedness in Rural and Urban Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 360-385, March.
    15. Fabio Zona, 2015. "Board ownership and processes in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 105-122, January.

    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. Breuer, Wolfgang & Knetsch, Andreas, 2022. "Informal authority and economic outcomes of family firms: An issue of national power distance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María-Andrea, 2012. "Family firms and financial performance: The cost of growing," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 626-649.
    3. Pindado, Julio & Requejo, Ignacio & de la Torre, Chabela, 2014. "Family control, expropriation, and investor protection: A panel data analysis of Western European corporations," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 58-74.
    4. Hegde, Shantaram & Seth, Rama & Vishwanatha, S.R., 2020. "Ownership concentration and stock returns: Evidence from family firms in India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Johan Eklund & Johanna Palmberg & Daniel Wiberg, 2013. "Inherited corporate control and returns on investment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 419-431, August.
    6. 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.
    7. Hamadi, Malika & Heinen, Andréas, 2015. "Firm performance when ownership is very concentrated: Evidence from a semiparametric panel," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 172-194.
    8. Jameson, Melvin & Prevost, Andrew & Puthenpurackal, John, 2014. "Controlling shareholders, board structure, and firm performance: Evidence from India," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-20.
    9. Lozano, M. Belén & Martínez, Beatriz & Pindado, Julio, 2016. "Corporate governance, ownership and firm value: Drivers of ownership as a good corporate governance mechanism," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1333-1343.
    10. Chi, Yung-Ling, 2023. "The agency costs of family ownership: Evidence from innovation performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    11. Adhikari, Hari P. & Sutton, Ninon K., 2016. "All in the family: The effect of family ownership on acquisition performance," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 65-78.
    12. Bouzgarrou, Houssam & Navatte, Patrick, 2013. "Ownership structure and acquirers performance: Family vs. non-family firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 123-134.
    13. Suveera Gill & Parmjit Kaur, 2015. "Family Involvement in Business and Financial Performance: A Panel Data Analysis," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 40(4), pages 395-420, December.
    14. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2014. "Are founding families special blockholders? An investigation of controlling shareholder influence on firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-16.
    15. Arosa, Blanca & Iturralde, Txomin & Maseda, Amaia, 2010. "Ownership structure and firm performance in non-listed firms: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 88-96, June.
    16. Saito, Takuji, 2008. "Family firms and firm performance: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 620-646, December.
    17. Mazzi, Chiara, 2011. "Family business and financial performance: Current state of knowledge and future research challenges," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 166-181.
    18. Theophilus Lartey & Diana Owusu Yirenkyi & Samuel Adomako & Albert Danso & Joseph Amankwah‐Amoah & Ashraful Alam, 2020. "Going green, going clean: Lean‐green sustainability strategy and firm growth," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 118-139, January.
    19. François Belot & Timothée Waxin, 2017. "Labor Conflicts in French Workplaces: Does (the Type of) Family Control Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 591-617, December.
    20. Bowo Setiyono & Amine Tarazi, 2014. "Does the presence of institutional investors in family banks affect profitability and risk? Evidence from an emerging market," Working Papers hal-01077118, HAL.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    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:hal:journl:hal-02496359. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.