IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/fambus/v10y2019i4s1877858517300943.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family firm R&D investments in the 2007–2009 Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Sun, Xian
  • Lee, Soo-Hoon
  • Phan, Phillip H.

Abstract

Investments in research and development (R&D) are essential to innovation, long-term value creation, and wealth accumulation. Since family wealth and firm performance are tightly coupled in family firms, how they invest during times of economic distress matters to their wealth accumulation over the generations. In this study, we examined the impact of the 2007 Great Recession on the R&D decisions of publicly-listed family firms in the United States. We compared family and non-family U.S. firms, excluding those in the financial sector, with total assets greater than $1 million for the period 1992 to 2015. Using the behavioral agency model, we hypothesized that among firms that were not financially constrained during the economic crisis, family firms were more likely than non-family firms to invest in R&D. The results support this hypothesis, lending credence to the notion that family firms undertook more risks when performance is below their long-term aspirations during economic downturns.

Suggested Citation

  • Sun, Xian & Lee, Soo-Hoon & Phan, Phillip H., 2019. "Family firm R&D investments in the 2007–2009 Great Recession," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:10:y:2019:i:4:s1877858517300943
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2018.02.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877858517300943
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfbs.2018.02.004?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. Chen, Shuping & Chen, Xia & Cheng, Qiang & Shevlin, Terry, 2010. "Are family firms more tax aggressive than non-family firms?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 41-61, January.
    2. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    3. Thomas Chaney & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2012. "The Collateral Channel: How Real Estate Shocks Affect Corporate Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2381-2409, October.
    4. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    5. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
    6. Choi, Young Rok & Zahra, Shaker A. & Yoshikawa, Toru & Han, Bong H., 2015. "Family ownership and R&D investment: The role of growth opportunities and business group membership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1053-1061.
    7. Córcoles, David & Triguero, Ángela & Cuerva, María Carmen, 2016. "Comparing persistence of product and process innovation: A discrete-time duration analysis of innovation spells," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 10, pages 1-35.
    8. Berger, Philip G & Ofek, Eli & Yermack, David L, 1997. "Managerial Entrenchment and Capital Structure Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1411-1438, September.
    9. 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.
    10. Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2011. "Stewardship or Agency? A Social Embeddedness Reconciliation of Conduct and Performance in Public Family Businesses," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 704-721, June.
    11. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    12. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Michael S. Weisbach, 2004. "The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1777-1804, August.
    13. David J. Denis & Valeriy Sibilkov, 2010. "Financial Constraints, Investment, and the Value of Cash Holdings," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 247-269, January.
    14. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    15. Chan, Su Han & Martin, John D. & Kensinger, John W., 1990. "Corporate research and development expenditures and share value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 255-276, August.
    16. Faleye, Olubunmi, 2007. "Classified boards, firm value, and managerial entrenchment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 501-529, February.
    17. Jean‐Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & David G. Sirmon & Philippe Very, 2007. "The Development of Organizational Social Capital: Attributes of Family Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 73-95, January.
    18. Kashyap, Anil K. & Zingales, Luigi, 2010. "The 2007-8 financial crisis: Lessons from corporate finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 303-305, September.
    19. Josep Llach & Mattias Nordqvist, 2010. "Innovation in family and non-family businesses: a resource perspective," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(3/4), pages 381-399.
    20. Munari, Federico & Oriani, Raffaele & Sobrero, Maurizio, 2010. "The effects of owner identity and external governance systems on R&D investments: A study of Western European firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1093-1104, October.
    21. Patricia Phillips McDougall & Jeffrey G. Covin & Richard B. Robinson & Lanny Herron, 1994. "The effects of industry growth and strategic breadth on new venture performance and strategy content," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(7), pages 537-554, September.
    22. Mark T. Leary & Michael R. Roberts, 2005. "Do Firms Rebalance Their Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2575-2619, December.
    23. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    24. Habbershon, Timothy G. & Williams, Mary & MacMillan, Ian C., 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 451-465, July.
    25. George Blazenko & Wing Him Yeung, 2015. "Does R & D create or resolve uncertainty?," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 16(5), pages 536-553, November.
    26. Robert E. Hoskisson & Michael A. Hitt, 1988. "Strategic control systems and relative r&d investment in large multiproduct firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 605-621, November.
    27. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    28. Lee, Soo-Hoon & Phan, Phillip H. & Ding, Hung-bin, 2016. "A theory of family employee involvement during resource paucity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 160-166.
    29. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2006. "Managerial incentives and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 431-468, February.
    30. Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H. & Litz, Reginald, 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance: an extension and integration," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 467-472, July.
    31. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Sidney Leung & Bertrand Horwitz, 2010. "Corporate governance and firm value during a financial crisis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 459-481, May.
    33. Block, Joern H., 2012. "R&D investments in family and founder firms: An agency perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 248-265.
    34. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    35. Miller, Danny & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Lester, Richard H. & Cannella Jr., Albert A., 2007. "Are family firms really superior performers?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 829-858, December.
    36. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    37. Charles Cao & Timothy Simin & Jing Zhao, 2008. "Can Growth Options Explain the Trend in Idiosyncratic Risk?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(6), pages 2599-2633, November.
    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. Jaufenthaler, Philipp, 2023. "A safe haven in times of crisis: The appeal of family companies as employers amid the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    2. Waseem, Fareeha, 2023. "Impact of Managerial Entrenchment on Firm Performance," OSF Preprints hmuab, Center for Open Science.
    3. Ginesti, Gianluca & Campa, Domenico & Spano’, Rosanna & Allini, Alessandra & Maffei, Marco, 2023. "The role of CSR committee characteristics on R&D investments," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).

    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. Choi, Young Rok & Zahra, Shaker A. & Yoshikawa, Toru & Han, Bong H., 2015. "Family ownership and R&D investment: The role of growth opportunities and business group membership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1053-1061.
    2. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    3. Moore, Jared A. & Suh, SangHyun & Werner, Edward M., 2017. "Dual entrenchment and tax management: Classified boards and family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-172.
    4. Ahlers, Oliver & Hack, Andreas & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "“Stepping into the buyers’ shoes”: Looking at the value of family firms through the eyes of private equity investors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 384-396.
    5. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Allison W. Pearson & Tim Barnett, 2012. "Family Involvement, Family Influence, and Family–Centered Non–Economic Goals in Small Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(2), pages 267-293, March.
    6. Thomas Keil & Markku Maula & Evangelos Syrigos, 2017. "CEO Entrepreneurial Orientation, Entrenchment, and Firm Value Creation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(4), pages 475-504, July.
    7. Wright, Mike & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2011. "Family firms: A research agenda and publication guide," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 187-198.
    8. David G. Sirmon & Jean–Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb, 2008. "The Role of Family Influence in Firms’ Strategic Responses to Threat of Imitation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(6), pages 979-998, November.
    9. Jun-Koo Kang & Jungmin Kim, 2020. "Do Family Firms Invest More than Nonfamily Firms in Employee-Friendly Policies?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1300-1324, March.
    10. Cucculelli, Marco & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny, 2016. "Product innovation, firm renewal and family governance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 90-104.
    11. Heino, Noora & Tuominen, Pasi & Jussila, Iiro, 2020. "Listed Family Firm Stakeholder Orientations: The Critical Role of Value-creating Family Factors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    12. Valentina Peruzzi, 2017. "Does family ownership structure affect investment-cash flow sensitivity? Evidence from Italian SMEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4378-4393, September.
    13. Ivan Miroshnychenko & Alfredo De Massis & Danny Miller & Roberto Barontini, 2021. "Family Business Growth Around the World," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 682-708, July.
    14. Daspit, Joshua J. & Long, Rebecca G. & Pearson, Allison W., 2019. "How familiness affects innovation outcomes via absorptive capacity: A dynamic capability perspective of the family firm," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 133-143.
    15. Francesco Aiello & Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo, 2020. "Innovation and productivity in family firms: evidence from a sample of European firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 394-416, May.
    16. Mazzi, Chiara, 2011. "Family business and financial performance: Current state of knowledge and future research challenges," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 166-181.
    17. Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny & Bares, Franck, 2015. "Governance and entrepreneurship in family firms: Agency, behavioral agency and resource-based comparisons," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 58-62.
    18. Ettore Croci & John A. Doukas & Halit Gonenc, 2011. "Family Control and Financing Decisions," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(5), pages 860-897, November.
    19. Block, Joern H. & Jaskiewicz, Peter & Miller, Danny, 2011. "Ownership versus management effects on performance in family and founder companies: A Bayesian reconciliation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 232-245.
    20. Esra Memili & Kaustav Misra, 2015. "Corporate Governance Provisions, Family Involvement, and Firm Performance in Publicly Traded Family Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-36, July.

    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:eee:fambus:v:10:y:2019:i:4:s1877858517300943. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/719791/description#description .

    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.