Family Firm Performance Over the Business Cycle: A Meta‐analysis

Abstract

The financial performance of family firms has been widely studied in the literature. Combining the results of 172 primary studies from 38 countries with data about business cycles, we investigated how family firm performance changes over the business cycle. Using meta-analytic estimation methods, we found that family firms slightly outperform nonfamily firms in both economically good and economically difficult times. For non-OECD countries, we found evidence for a countercyclical effect where the relative outperformance of family firms is higher in economically difficult times. No such cyclical effect was found for family firms in OECD countries. Our study extends the literature on how family firm performance depends on macroeconomic factors.

Mobilisation of survivability capital – family firm response to the coronavirus crisis

“…Dyer (2018), however, wonders whether all family firms outperform their non-family peers during times of crisis. For instance, Hansen et al (2020) did not find such a cyclical effect when examining family firms operating in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In contrast, the family firms' relative outperformance during economically difficult times has been demonstrated for Asian and non-OECD countries (Hansen et al, 2020).…”

“…Although researchers have mentioned the existence of survivability capital (Carney, 2005;Sciascia and Mazzola, 2008;Brewton et al, 2010;Memili et al, 2013;Wilson et al, 2013;Arrondo-Garcia et al, 2016), they have rarely investigated the circumstances under which it is mobilised, nor have they measured its influence on firm performance. Examination of the circumstances in which survivability capital is mobilised seems to be of importance since the identification of its activation impulses can constitute the basis for explaining the greater likelihood of survival and the better financial performance of family firms compared to nonfamily firms after external shocks (Amann and Jaussaud, 2012;Kachaner et al, 2012;Wilson et al, 2013;Van Essen et al, 2015;Minichilli et al, 2016;Arrondo-Garcia et al, 2016;Hansen et al, 2020). Of course, not all family businesses possess survivability capital (Sirmon and Hitt, 2003) and the degree of family commitment to a business varies across families (Van Auken and Werbel, 2006).…”

Public family firms and capital structure: A meta‐analysis

“…Our study also contributes to the family business literature, where several meta-analyses already exist, especially with regard to firm performance. Whereas some of these studies investigate family firm performance in a general context (e.g., Hansen, Block, & Neuenkirch, 2020;O'Boyle, Pollack, & Rutherford, 2012;Taras, Memili, Wang, & Harms, 2018;Wagner, Block, Miller, Schwens, & Xi, 2015), others focus exclusively on private firms , publicly listed US firms (Van Essen, , or publicly listed family firms in emerging markets (Duran, Van Essen, Heugens, Kostova, & Peng, 2019;Wang & Shailer, 2017). Further meta-analyses have been conducted to shed light on family firms' internationalization (Arregle, Duran, Hitt, & Van Essen, 2017), innovation (Duran, Kammerlander, Van Essen, & Zellweger, 2016), and corporate social responsibility (CSR) behavior (Canavati, 2018).…”

Meta-Analiz: Finans Çalışmaları Üzerine Bir Tartışma

“…In this context, Geyer- Klingeberg et al (2018: 14) reached the average values of macroeconomic variables based on the degree of market friction and the theory of positive hedging. Similarly, Hansen et al (2018) emphasized the inclusiveness of meta-analysis in an article in which the business cycle examines the impact of family businesses on financial performance. It is stated that all stages of the business cycle are included as an independent variable in terms of the scope of this study.…”