De Massis, Alfredo and Kotlar, Josip and Campopiano, Giovanna and Cassia, Lucio (2015) The impact of family involvement on SMEs performance : theory and evidence. Journal of Small Business Management, 53 (4). pp. 924-948. ISSN 0047-2778
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Abstract
By complementing agency theory with behavioral assumptions, we explore the effects of family involvement on SMEs’ performance. We identify three separate dimensions of family involvement and hypothesize non-linear, direct and interaction effects on the performance of an SME. The evidence on 787 SMEs suggests that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between family ownership and performance, and ownership dispersion among family members negatively affects performance. Balancing family and non-family members in the TMT is found to be beneficial to SMEs’ performance, but the family ratio in the TMT becomes crucial only at high levels of family ownership.