Level Of Family Ownership Research Articles

DETERMINANTS OF TAX AGGRESSIVENESS WITH CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AS A MODERATION VARIABLE IN PUBLIC COMPANIES IN INDONESIA

This research examines how corporate governance moderates the impact of financial derivatives, executive pay, executive traits, and family ownership on tax aggressiveness in manufacturing firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange between 2021 and 2023. Independent commissioners are used as a proxy for corporate governance. A total of 86 companies were included in the study using purposive sampling. The data analysis method employed was moderated regression analysis (MRA). The findings indicated that tax aggressiveness was impacted by financial derivatives, executive compensation, and executive behaviour but not by family ownership. These findings suggest that the level of family ownership does not dictate the degree of tax avoidance. Corporate governance as a moderating factor can influence executive compensation and executive behaviour but does not influence financial derivatives and family ownership concerning tax aggressiveness.

Impact of entrepreneur's socioeconomic status on corporate environmental conduct and misconduct: The moderating role of family ownership

AbstractThe impact of an actor's status on corporate ethical issues has been debated in strategy management. Drawing on upper echelons theory and status theory, our study aims to address this theoretical puzzle by examining how an entrepreneur's socioeconomic status affects a firm's engagement in positive environmental conduct and negative environmental misconduct, as well as the moderating effects of family ownership in China's emerging economy. Our analysis of 3281 private firms from a national survey in China reveals that an entrepreneur's socioeconomic status not only promotes corporate environmental conduct but also stimulates environmental misconduct. These effects are more pronounced in firms with higher levels of family ownership. By uncovering the complex impact of an entrepreneur's socioeconomic status on corporate environmental actions, our study contributes novel insights to the environmental management literature.

BOARD STRUCTURE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED COMPANIES: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA

This study aims to investigate the connection between board composition and a company's financial performance. To determine whether board size, board independence, and board gender composition affect a company's financial performance, experiments on board size, board independence, and board gender composition were conducted. Considering the high level of family ownership in Malaysian publicly traded companies, the analysis presents data from a developing market. From 2018 to 2022, a sample of 25 PN17 publicly traded companies in Malaysia served as the basis for the study. A multiple regression analysis revealed that board size and gender composition positively and substantially correlate with financial performance; thus, appointing more female board members will improve the company's financial performance. Therefore, a business justification exists for the Malaysian government's effort to require publicly traded companies to have at least 30 percent female board members. Nonetheless, according to the study's findings, board independence does not affect corporate performance. Therefore, the appointment of independent board members will not affect the economic performance of the companies.

The effect of the Covid-19 epidemic on auditing quality and the reaction of family vs non-family businesses to Covid-19: the case of Jordan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide new scientific knowledge concerning the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on auditing quality as determined by audit fees for both family- and non-family-owned firms in Jordan.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression firm-clustered standard error employing data from 200 Jordanian enterprises between 2005 and 2020 to validate this study's hypotheses.FindingsThe regression findings suggest that enterprises run by families are better able to handle crises and spend less on audits. Companies that are not family-owned have to spend the most on monitoring tasks since they need to take extra steps to prevent the agency problem and make their financial statements stand out from their peers in order to attract more investors. Additional analysis that stretched out throughout 2005–2022 came to the same findings.Practical implicationsThe findings can be beneficial for authorities to better regulate and supervise the auditing sector. Political leaders, legislators, regulators and the auditing industry can all learn important lessons from the findings as they assess the growing concerns in a turbulent economic situation. The results of this research can, therefore, be utilised to reassure investors and assist policymakers in crafting workable responses to Covid-19's creation of financial problems. After the devastation caused by the coronavirus, these findings may be used to strengthen the laws that oversee Jordan's auditing sector.Originality/valueIn emerging nations like Jordan, where there is a clear concentration of ownership and a predominance of high levels of family ownership, and to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study to compare the auditing quality of family-owned versus non-family-owned enterprises. Preliminary insights into the crisis management tactics of family and non-family organisations are provided by this first empirical investigation of the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on family-owned firms.

Family firms and product recalls: an event study for the US automobile industry

PurposeThis study explores whether the unique organizational form of family firms helps to mitigate the negative effects caused by the announcement of product recalls.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an event study, for a sample of 2,576 product recalls in the United States (US) automobile industry, between January 2010 and June 2021.FindingsThe authors found that stock market's reaction to a product recall announcement is less negative for family firms. This superior performance is partially driven by the family firms' long-term investment horizons and higher strategic emphasis on product quality. However, the relationship between family ownership and cumulative abnormal returns around product recall announcements is nonlinear as the impact of family ownership starts by being positive but becomes negative for higher levels of family ownership. The authors also find that family firm's chief executive officer (CEO) and managerial ownership influence positively the stock market reaction to product recall announcements.Practical implicationsThis work has several implications for family firms' management as well as for investors and financial analysts. First, as higher managerial ownership is associated with a greater emphasis on product quality, decreasing stock market losses when a product recall occurs, family firms should consider increasing equity-based compensation. Second, as there seems to exist an optimal proportion of family ownership, family firms should consider the risks of increasing too much their ownership share. Third, investors and financial analysts can use the results in the study to help them in their investment and trading decisions in the stock market.Originality/valueThe authors extend the knowledge of product recalls by studying the under-researched role of the flexible, internally focused culture of family businesses on the stock market reaction to product recalls.

Family Ownership and Value of Takeover: Evidence from India

We examine how family-ownership influences takeover probability and takeover public announcement abnormal return of Indian publicly traded firms between 2003 and 2019. We find that family ownership has a significantly negative effect on target takeover probability at various levels of family ownership, viz. 20%, 40%, and 51%. Announcement period abnormal returns for target firms are positive at a lower level of family ownership of 20% and negative at a higher level of family ownership of 51%. These results are consistent with the agency cost explanation where family ownership reduces owner-manager agency conflict but exacerbates conflict between majority and minority shareholders. Our results hold for Heckman two-stage model.

Does Internet exposure reduce the desire for family control? Evidence from China

Family firms (FFs) are known as holding strong desire for family control but it is yet to be known whether and how Internet would alter such inclination. Invoked on the institutional logics perspective, we proposed that FFs with greater Internet exposure would reduce the desire for family control whereas the power of family logics manifested by the current (i.e., family ownership) and transgenerational (i.e., intention of intra-family succession) control should drag down the changes. Based on a Chinese national survey data, we found strong supports for the hypotheses except the moderating effect of transgenerational control. Overall, the study contributes to the family business (FB) literature by unveiling that technological changes can serve as additional antecedent of FFs' professionalization. It further highlights that different levels of family ownership lead to different responses to new institutional logics and findings in developed economies may not apply to those in emerging economies like China.

Political Connection, Auditor Quality, Family Ownership, and Earnings Management: Real and Accrual

This study aims to explore the effect of political connections, external auditor quality, and family ownership on real and discretionary accrual earnings management practices in public companies in Indonesia. So far, previous studies have shown inconclusive and mixed results. The samples used in this study are companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the last 10 years (2010-2019) prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of this study show that political connections have an effect on reducing both real and discretionary accrual earnings management practices in public companies. High quality external auditors have a significant effect on reducing discretionary accrual earnings management practices only. Meanwhile, the high level of family ownership has an effect on reducing real earnings management practices. The results of this study can be a consideration for public companies to appoint former ministers or high-ranking state officials as company directors or commissioners to suppress earnings management practices.

Symbolic Shareholder Democracy: Toward a Behavioral Understanding of the Role of Shareholder Voting in CEO Dismissals

We investigate the effect of expressive shareholder dissent voting, in which shareholders use their votes symbolically to express their discontent with management, on subsequent chief executive officer (CEO) dismissals. Using the routine but highly symbolic executive board discharge proposal voted on at the annual shareholder meetings of German firms, we argue that the board of directors understands these votes as a “vote of confidence in management” that challenges the CEO’s mandate to lead the firm. Arguing that board chairs are uniquely positioned to take up the stance of a steward of the firm and its leadership, we examine how independent and family board chairs moderate the board’s response to expressive voting dissent. Using a sample of German public firms over the period 2008–2015, we find that expressive voting dissent increases the chance of CEO dismissal increasingly with the level of dissent expressed. Contrary to prevailing agency theoretical expectations, we do not find that independent chairs are more responsive to expressive voting dissent, nor that this relationship is strengthened by the degree of minority institutional investor ownership of the firm. Consistent with the symbolic perspective on shareholder voting that we seek to develop, however, we find that family chairs are more likely to lead the board to dismiss the CEO due to the intrinsic disvalue they incur from symbolic leadership legitimacy challenges in their firms, and that the positive effect of having a family chair on the dissent induced chance of CEO dismissal is strengthened by the level of family ownership in the firm.Funding: A University of Illinois at Chicago Summer Research Grant is gratefully acknowledged for S. Sauerwald.

Tata Kelola, Kepemilikan Keluarga, Auditor Berkualitas, dan Manajemen Laba

This paper examines the relationship between corporate governance quality, family ownership, auditor quality, towards accrual and real earnings management activities among publicly listed firms in Indonesia. Using non-financial industry sector listed firms for the period of 2010-2019, we empirically demonstrate that firms with higher corporate governance quality have lower levels of both real and accruals earnings management activities. Furthermore, there is evidence that a higher level of family ownership is related to a lower level of real earnings management activities but has no significant effect on accrual earnings management activities. Meanwhile, the appointment of the big four public accounting firms has a lower level of accruals earnings management activities but no significant effect on real earnings management activities. Only a firm with high corporate governance quality and a qualified auditor significantly decreases real and accrual earnings management. Furthermore, there is evidence that the mitigating effect of higher corporate governance quality in reducing earnings management activities is more pronounced for family firms. The empirical findings seemed to suggest that family firms in Indonesia want to protect their interests by reducing the potentially harmful real earnings management activities.

Under which circumstances do family SMES achieve high growth? A behavioural perspective

High-growth firms contribute disproportionately to the creation of employment, wealth and economic development on a global basis. Yet, knowledge of the circumstances under which such growth patterns occur is limited, and the findings with regard to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are inconclusive. Adopting the behavioural agency model, we analyse the effect of family control and related nuances (i.e. degree of family ownership and presence of a family chief executive officer (CEO)) on SME growth. Furthermore, we argue that the type of slack resources and their availability are a crucial organisational contingency when investigating high growth in SMEs. Using a sample of 39,631 European SMEs over a 13-year period, we find that family firms are less likely to achieve high growth compared to non-family firms; having a family CEO further reduces this likelihood. Instead, at higher (vs lower) levels of family ownership, the probability of family firms achieving high growth increases. Furthermore, the availability of high- and low-discretion slack resources influences these relationships. Our study advances current understanding of high growth in general, and family firms in particular.

Family owners and the appointment of family and non-family women directors. Where is the ownership point where preferences change?

ABSTRACT We analyse the impact of voting rights in the hands of the dominant family owner on the presence of women directors in a sample of listed family firms in Spain during 2007–2020. As distinctive features of this paper, we examine whether women directors have or do not have family ties with the dominant family owner, use the control-chain methodology to identify the ultimate or dominant owner of Spanish listed firms and analyse a curvilinear association between family ownership and the appointment of family and non-family female directors in family firms. Drawing on socioemotional, agency and stewardship theories, our results show that when the voting rights of the dominant families are low, they appoint more female directors with family associations. The results also indicate that when family voting rights are high, family founders appoint more non-family women directors to benefit from their industry-specific expertise and objective advice. Overall, our findings suggest that when a certain level of family ownership is reached there is a need to reduce the appointment of women directors with family ties in order to move towards a more balanced and diversified board with a wider representation of skills, knowledge, diverse experiences and talent.

Founding family ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the evolution of family ownership and firm policies

AbstractWe use a novel dataset to follow the evolution of family ownership, firm value and firm policies for up to 25 years post initial public offering (IPO). Firm value, measured by Tobin's Q, increases as family ownership decreases over time. Firms with higher family ownership invest less in research and development (R&D) and have greater R&D sensitivity to internal cash flow. A path analysis reveals the lower R&D investment as a mechanism through which firm value relates negatively to family ownership. Firms with higher family ownership rely more on debt financing, and firms with higher levels of family ownership at the IPO are less likely to conduct seasoned equity offerings. Altogether, the valuation, investment and financing patterns are consistent with the premise that firms with higher levels of family ownership are unwilling to issue equity and dilute family ownership. A reluctance to issue equity creates financing constraints that limit the firms’ abilities to fully exploit their investment opportunities and contributes to lower firm value among firms with more concentrated family ownership.

Impact of family control on bank financing and the cost of debt: evidence from Canadian survey data

This study intends to investigate the impact of family control on bank financing and the cost of debt by utilising a survey research design to collect survey data. Canadian small family business owners were asked about their perceptions of family ownership, family members' firm management, CEO duality, bank financing, and debt cost. Our empirical analysis shows that family members' higher level of family ownership and firm management increases bank financing and decreases the cost of debt. A three-stage least square regressions show that family control/governance decreases the cost of debt through bank financing access. Thus, family control/governance plays a role in increasing bank financing and reducing debt costs for Canadian small family business firms. The results contribute to the literature on the relations between family control, bank financing, and debt cost. This study may motivate research scholars to develop further studies on family control/governance and the cost of capital.

Family ownership and the export performance of SMEs: the moderating role of financial constraints and flexibility

PurposeThis article investigates the relationship between family ownership and export performance in the context of SMEs while also considering the moderating role of the financial dimension and, in particular, financial constraints and financial flexibility.Design/methodology/approachWe select a sample of 1,132 Italian SMEs to examine through an econometric analysis the role and impact of family ownership and the financial moderating variables being used on their export performance.FindingsThe results indicate that there is a U-shaped relationship between family ownership and export performance: the highest levels of export performance correspond to the lowest and highest family ownership levels, whereas when a mixture of family and nonfamily ownership exists, the performance suffers because of “conflicting voices” dominating strategic visions and approaches, harming the firm's export commitment. Moreover, the findings show that lower financial constraints and/or stronger financial flexibility improve the relationship between family ownership and export performance.Research limitations/implicationsOur findings show that the ownership structure is important for export performance; in particular, firms should avoid a mixture between family and nonfamily ownership because it is detrimental to export performance. Moreover, Italian SMEs need to develop sources of financing other than the banking channel, and policy makers should favour this process to overcome financial constraint problems and improve financial flexibility. Limitations concern the use of other econometric approaches and measurement variables to further investigate the connection between family ownership and export performance.Originality/valueThe present study enhances the comprehension of the complex relationship between family ownership and export performance by documenting the relevance of the level of family ownership and considering the moderating role of financial constraints and flexibility.

Web-based sustainability reporting by family companies: the role of the richest European families

ABSTRACT This study compares the sustainability reporting practices of family companies with those of their non-family counterparts and examines whether the former owned by billionaires engage differently with sustainability reporting compared to their counterparts. The empirical analysis is based on 360 companies from 17 European countries. A propensity score matching (PSM) procedure was adopted and we selected 180 family companies and 180 non-family companies. The former group includes 90 owned by European billionaires listed in the Forbes 2019 World Billionaires Ranking and 90 not owned by billionaires. Findings are consistent with the argument that family companies attach greater importance to sustainability reporting. Within the family company arena, findings reveal that greater prominence is attributed to sustainability issues on corporate websites when the family company’s CEO is a family member and the level of family ownership is lower. The results revealed mixed evidence regarding differences between family companies owned by billionaires and their counterparts. The prominence attributed to sustainability issues on corporate websites by family companies owned by European billionaires is greater than that of family companies not owned by billionaires, but only when using a less stringent measure of prominence. These findings emphasise the importance of exploring family companies as a heterogeneous group.

Lone-founder firms in China: Replicating Miller et al. (2007) in a different context

We replicate, in the Chinese context, a study undertaken in 2007 by Miller, Le Breton-Miller, Lester, and Cannella (MLLC), which examined the performance differences among lone-founder firms, family firms, and nonfamily firms in the U.S. Our goal was to test the generalizability of MLLC’s findings, as well as uncover contextual nuances that might exist in a markedly different institutional context that also includes state-owned enterprises. Our results corroborate MLLC’s finding that lone-founder firms outperform other types of firms. We also find that when family ownership is at lower levels, family firms and nonfamily firms seem to have similar performance; however, family firms have a performance advantage at higher levels of family ownership. Finally, we find that state-owned enterprises are outperformed by lone-founder, family and nonfamily firms. Our study highlights the importance of distinguishing among different types of nonfamily firms, between family and lone-founder firms, and among family firms with different levels of family ownership. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer suggestions for future research in family business.

Sit out or All in? Family Ownership and Turnaround Strategies in Severe Crisis

To investigate how firms attempt to overcome a survival-threatening crisis and why they do so, we apply a classification scheme of turnaround strategies and take a SEW perspective. We theorize how the level of family ownership relates to the employment of different turnaround measures and, ultimately, to insolvency. Analyzing a unique sample with responses of 209 risk managers reveals that the higher family ownership, the more the endangered firms tend to “sit out” instead of going “all in”, and that higher family ownership indeed makes insolvency less likely. This contributes to the literature on turnaround, particularly in family-owned firms, SEW, and to practice.

The first turnaround response of family firms in a crisis situation

Building on recent advances in the socioemotional wealth (SEW) literature and the concept of bifurcation bias, we explore the first turnaround response of family firms to a decline in financial performance. We argue that heterogeneity among family firms in terms of their levels of family ownership and family involvement in management alters their response to an economic crisis situation. We also contend that severity of a crisis situation significantly moderates the relationships. Our multi-level analysis of a sample of crisis situations pertaining to family firms supports our hypotheses.

Different levels of family ownership and dividend payout in the presence of growth opportunities

This study examines the family ownership, growth opportunities, and dividend payout of a sample consisting of 200 of the largest publicly listed companies in Malaysia from 2011-2016. Three main results emerge after controlling for firm and board characteristics as well as industry and year effects in various robustness checks. First, despite their positive impacts on dividend payout, family firms exhibit a lower dividend payout relative to net income. Second, growth opportunities increase the positive impacts of family ownership on dividend payout. A positive association between growth opportunities and dividend payout is also found. Third, the moderating effect of growth opportunities on the relationship between family ownership and dividend payout is present only in firms with family shareholdings, particularly those with high and medium ownership. These findings indicate varying dividend payout in the presence of growth opportunities for the different levels of family ownership.