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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 54 No. 5 2019

When Does the Family Govern the Family Firm?

Øyvind Bøhren1,2; Bogdan Stacescu1,2; Line F. Almli1,2; Kathrine L. Søndergaard1,2

1 University of Gothenburg · 2 University of Edinburgh

open access

Abstract

We find that the controlling family holds both the chief executive officer and chair positions in 79% of Norwegian family firms. The family holds more governance positions when it owns large stakes in small, profitable, low-risk firms. This result suggests that the family trades off expected costs and benefits by conditioning participation intensity on observable firm characteristics. We find that the positive effect of performance on participation is twice as strong as the positive effect of participation on performance. The endogeneity of participation, therefore, should be carefully accounted for when analyzing the effect of family governance on the family firm’s behavior.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109018001102
Volume
54
Issue
5
Pages
2085-2117
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

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