Blame You, Blame Me: Exploring Attribution Differences and Impact in Family and Nonfamily Firms

Abstract

We explore how publicly listed family and nonfamily firms engage in self-serving attributions in their annual financial reports. We empirically examine how both types of firms emphasize internal attributions for good firm performance (internal-positive attributions) and external attributions for poor firm performance (external-negative attributions). We find that family firms make more external-negative attributions and that the stock market reacts more negatively to external-negative attributions made by family firms. This suggests important theoretical and practical implications for attribution theory and impression management in family firm research.

Owner–manager perceptions of regulation and micro-firm performance: An exploratory view

“…However, we must be cautious about assigning causality, given our available data and the nature of micro-firms. For instance, we note prior research has found small/family firms ‘blame’ external factors (like regulation) for poor performance, thereby suggesting poor performance drives onerous regulatory perceptions (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001; Hienerth and Kessler, 2006; Jayamohan et al., 2017). However, while this cannot be discounted, by exploring the Perceived-Value and Perceived-Burden independently, we gain a more nuanced understanding of regulation.…”

The blame game: COVID-19 crisis and financial performance

“…That self-interest orientation leads them to avoid risky projects or pursue unethical strategic activities, such as earnings management (Jiraporn et al 2008 ) or tax avoidance (Desai and Dharmapala 2006 ). In a broader perspective, managers hire public relations (Jayamohan et al 2017 ; Westphal and Graebner 2010 ) or decrease financial readability (Leung et al 2015 ) to hide important information about their lack of performance.…”

“…Given this assumed impression management, research suggests that managers will find reasoning to justify their failure (Jayamohan et al 2017 ; Zerfass 2008 ). In particular, managers use corporate financial reports to convey their reasoning for the declining performance.…”

Investors’ Reactions to CSR News in Family Versus Nonfamily Firms: A Study on Signal (In)credibility

“…We also contribute to signaling theory in general and family firm signaling in particular by studying negative CSR news, which can be seen as an unintentional signal (i.e., a signal that signalers emit without being aware that they are signaling [Spence, 2002]), as well as recessions as a signaling environment-both of which relate to understudied areas in the signaling research field (Connelly et al, 2011). Second, we contribute to the research on family firms by investigating the consequences of CSR news, especially its effect on the stock market (Jayamohan et al, 2017). Specifically, we show that in general, positive CSR news about family firms is perceived positively and negative CSR news is perceived negatively by outside investors-a finding that also carries important practical implications.…”