IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v46y2014i32p3907-3921.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family ownership, altruism and agency costs in Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Dong Xiang
  • Andrew C. Worthington
  • Helen Higgs

Abstract

Given the continuing uncertainty about whether family firms enjoy lower agency costs, this article hypothesizes that a combination of the effects of family ownership, altruism and self-control is instead at play. To begin with, family ownership can indeed reduce agency costs through better aligning the interests of owners and managers. This is a 'determining' effect in that it independently mitigates one source of agency problems. However, altruism combined with self-control problems arising from the highly concentrated ownership often found in family firms can also increase agency costs. This is an 'embedding' effect as it is rooted in the personal relationships within the family firm. Using the Business Longitudinal Database compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that for larger SMEs (those with 20-200 employees), the gains in lower agency costs arising from family ownership are almost completely offset by the losses from altruism and the lack of self-control.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong Xiang & Andrew C. Worthington & Helen Higgs, 2014. "Family ownership, altruism and agency costs in Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(32), pages 3907-3921, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:46:y:2014:i:32:p:3907-3921
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2014.946183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2014.946183
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2014.946183?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Holtz-Eakin & David Joulfaian & Harvey S. Rosen, 1993. "The Carnegie Conjecture: Some Empirical Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 413-435.
    2. Mike Burkart & Fausto Panunzi & Andrei Shleifer, 2003. "Family Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2167-2201, October.
    3. Thaler, Richard H & Shefrin, H M, 1981. "An Economic Theory of Self-Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(2), pages 392-406, April.
    4. Bernard Taylor, 2003. "Corporate Governance: the crisis, investors’ losses and the decline in public trust," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 155-163, July.
    5. Degryse, H.A. & de Goeij, P. C. & Kappert, P., 2009. "The Impact of Firm and Industry Characteristics on Small Firms' Capital Structure : Evidence from Dutch Panel Data," Discussion Paper 2009-21, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    6. Eugene F. Fama, 2002. "Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    7. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    8. James S. Ang & Rebel A. Cole & James Wuh Lin, 2000. "Agency Costs and Ownership Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 81-106, February.
    9. Fama, Eugene F. & Jensen, Michael C., 1985. "Organizational forms and investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 101-119, March.
    10. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    11. Fleming, Grant & Heaney, Richard & McCosker, Rochelle, 2005. "Agency costs and ownership structure in Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 29-52, January.
    12. Buchanan, James M, 1983. "Rent Seeking, Noncompensated Transfers, and Laws of Succession," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(1), pages 71-85, April.
    13. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    14. Maury, Benjamin, 2006. "Family ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Western European corporations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 321-341, January.
    15. Rosenbusch, Nina & Brinckmann, Jan & Bausch, Andreas, 2011. "Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 441-457, July.
    16. Srinivasan Balakrishnan & Isaac Fox, 1993. "Abstract," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 3-16, January.
    17. Bergstrom, Theodore C, 1989. "A Fresh Look at the Rotten Kid Theorem--and Other Household Mysteries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1138-1159, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wilson, Nicholas, 2018. "Altruism in preventive health behavior: At-scale evidence from the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 119-129.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2018. "The determinants of growth in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry: A firm-level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 259-271.
    2. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Erich B. Bergiel, 2009. "An Agency Theoretic Analysis of the Professionalized Family Firm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(2), pages 355-372, March.
    3. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2022. "Firm size, corporate debt, R&D activity, and agency costs: Exploring dynamic and non-linear effects," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    4. Díaz-Díaz, Nieves Lidia & García-Teruel, Pedro J. & Martínez-Solano, Pedro, 2016. "Debt maturity structure in private firms: Does the family control matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 393-411.
    5. Nieves Lidia Díaz‐Díaz & Pedro J. García‐Teruel & Pedro Martínez‐Solano, 2023. "Private family firms, generations and bank debt," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3043-3075, September.
    6. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Reginald A. Litz, 2004. "Comparing the Agency Costs of Family and Non–Family Firms: Conceptual Issues and Exploratory Evidence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(4), pages 335-354, July.
    7. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    8. Corten, Maarten & Steijvers, Tensie & Lybaert, Nadine, 2017. "The effect of intrafamily agency conflicts on audit demand in private family firms: The moderating role of the board of directors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 13-28.
    9. Mário Santos & António Moreira & Elisabete Vieira, 2014. "Ownership concentration, contestability, family firms, and capital structure," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(4), pages 1063-1107, November.
    10. ElBannan, Mona A., 2017. "Stock market liquidity, family ownership, and capital structure choices in an emerging country," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-231.
    11. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Ana Caetano, 2015. "Trade-Off Theory versus Pecking Order Theory: capital structure decisions in a peripheral region of Portugal," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 445-466, April.
    12. Audretsch, David B. & Hülsbeck, Marcel & Lehmann, Erik E., 2013. "Families as active monitors of firm performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 118-130.
    13. Schulze, William S. & Lubatkin, Michael H. & Dino, Richard N., 2003. "Toward a theory of agency and altruism in family firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 473-490, July.
    14. Hanousek, Jan & Kočenda, Evžen & Shamshur, Anastasiya, 2015. "Corporate efficiency in Europe," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 24-40.
    15. Kuang Kuang Deng & Siu Kei Wong & Kwong Wing Chau, 2018. "Institutions and Capital Structure: The Case of Chinese Property Firms," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 352-385, April.
    16. Degryse, H.A. & de Goeij, P. C. & Kappert, P., 2009. "The Impact of Firm and Industry Characteristics on Small Firms' Capital Structure : Evidence from Dutch Panel Data," Discussion Paper 2009-21, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    17. Roberto Barontini & Stefano Bozzi & Guido Ferrarini, 2017. "Executive remuneration standards and the “conformity gap” at controlled corporations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 573-597, September.
    18. Aziz Jaafar & Lynn Hodgkinson & Mao-Feng Kao, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Board of Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from Taiwan," Working Papers 19011, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    19. Kendo, Sandra & Tchakounte, Josephine, 2022. "The drivers of the financial integration of microfinance Institutions: Do financial development, agency costs and microfinance performance matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 128-142.
    20. Liew, Chee Yoong & Devi, S.Susela, 2020. "Family Firms, Banks and Firm Value: Evidence from Malaysia," MPRA Paper 99704, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:46:y:2014:i:32:p:3907-3921. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.