IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v51y2018i3d10.1007_s11187-017-9930-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of family ownership dispersion on debt level in privately held firms

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Bacci

    (University of Perugia)

  • Alessandro Cirillo

    (University of Foggia)

  • Donata Mussolino

    (University of Naples Federico II)

  • Simone Terzani

    (University of Perugia)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the financing behavior of privately held firms along the dispersion of family ownership. Drawing on the socio-emotional wealth perspective, we argue that debt levels are contingent on the degree of ownership dispersion among family members. Based on a sample of 2451 observations, in a 10-year time frame, our results reveal the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between debt level and intra-family ownership dispersion. We demonstrate that this relationship is moderated by the generational involvement that inverts it in later generations.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Bacci & Alessandro Cirillo & Donata Mussolino & Simone Terzani, 2018. "The influence of family ownership dispersion on debt level in privately held firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 557-576, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:51:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9930-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-017-9930-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-017-9930-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-017-9930-2?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. Christian Andres, 2011. "Family ownership, financing constraints and investment decisions," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(22), pages 1641-1659.
    2. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    3. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Verbeek, Marno & Nijman, Theo, 1992. "Testing for Selectivity Bias in Panel Data Models," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 33(3), pages 681-703, August.
    5. De Massis, Alfredo & Kotlar, Josip & Campopiano, Giovanna & Cassia, Lucio, 2013. "Dispersion of family ownership and the performance of small-to-medium size private family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 166-175.
    6. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & N Dino Richard, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02311676, HAL.
    7. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller, 2013. "Socioemotional Wealth across the Family Firm Life Cycle: A Commentary on “Family Business Survival and the Role of Boardsâ€," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1391-1397, November.
    8. Schmid, Thomas, 2013. "Control considerations, creditor monitoring, and the capital structure of family firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 257-272.
    9. Magda Bianco & Maria Bontempi & Roberto Golinelli & Giuseppe Parigi, 2013. "Family firms’ investments, uncertainty and opacity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1035-1058, May.
    10. Murray Z. Frank & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 1-37, March.
    11. 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..
    12. Brennan, Michael J & Schwartz, Edwardo S, 1978. "Corporate Income Taxes, Valuation, and the Problem of Optimal Capital Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 103-114, January.
    13. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    14. 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.
    15. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    16. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    17. Johan Wiklund & Mattias Nordqvist & Karin Hellerstedt & Miriam Bird, 2013. "Internal versus External Ownership Transition in Family Firms: An Embeddedness Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1319-1340, November.
    18. Stewart C. Myers, 2001. "Capital Structure," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 81-102, Spring.
    19. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    20. Nijman, T.E. & Verbeek, M.J.C.M., 1992. "Testing for selectivity in panel data models," Other publications TiSEM 7ec34a6c-1d84-4052-971c-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    21. Vincent Molly & Eddy Laveren & Ann Jorissen, 2012. "Intergenerational Differences in Family Firms: Impact on Capital Structure and Growth Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(4), pages 703-725, July.
    22. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2013. "Family Firm Governance, Strategic Conformity, and Performance: Institutional vs. Strategic Perspectives," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 189-209, February.
    23. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    24. Chandra S. Mishra & Daniel L. Mcconaughy, 1999. "Founding Family Control and Capital Structure: The Risk of Loss of Control and the Aversion to Debt," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 53-64, July.
    25. Sidney L. Barton & Paul J. Gordon, 1988. "Corporate strategy and capital structure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 623-632, November.
    26. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    27. William S. Schulze & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2015. "Reifying Socioemotional Wealth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 447-459, May.
    28. Franz W. Kellermanns & Kimberly A. Eddleston, 2004. "Feuding Families: When Conflict Does a Family Firm Good," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(3), pages 209-228, May.
    29. 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.
    30. Stefano Caselli & Alberta Di Giuli, 2010. "Does the CFO matter in family firms? Evidence from Italy," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 381-411.
    31. Leary, Mark T. & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The pecking order, debt capacity, and information asymmetry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 332-355, March.
    32. Cristina Cruz & Mattias Nordqvist, 2012. "Entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: a generational perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 33-49, January.
    33. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    34. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María-Andrea, 2013. "Family firms and debt: Risk aversion versus risk of losing control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2308-2320.
    35. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & Richard N. Dino, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02276698, HAL.
    36. Céspedes, Jacelly & González, Maximiliano & Molina, Carlos A., 2010. "Ownership and capital structure in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 248-254, March.
    37. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. 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.
    39. Becchetti, Leonardo & Trovato, Giovanni, 2002. "The Determinants of Growth for Small and Medium Sized Firms: The Role of the Availability of External Finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 291-306, December.
    40. Shekhar Aiyar, 2012. "From Financial Crisis to Great Recession: The Role of Globalized Banks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 225-230, May.
    41. Sciascia, Salvatore & Mazzola, Pietro & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "Family management and profitability in private family-owned firms: Introducing generational stage and the socioemotional wealth perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 131-137.
    42. Romano, Claudio A. & Tanewski, George A. & Smyrnios, Kosmas X., 2001. "Capital structure decision making: A model for family business," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 285-310, May.
    43. Goel, Sanjay & He, Xiaogang & Karri, Ranjan, 2011. "Family involvement in a hierarchical culture: Effect of dispersion of family ownership control and family member tenure on firm performance in Chinese family owned firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 199-206.
    44. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Alessandro Minichilli & Guido Corbetta & Daniel Pittino, 2014. "When do Non-Family CEOs Outperform in Family Firms? Agency and Behavioural Agency Perspectives," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 547-572, June.
    45. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, 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. Antonia Schickinger & Alexandra Bertschi-Michel & Max P. Leitterstorf & Nadine Kammerlander, 2022. "Same same, but different: capital structures in single family offices compared with private equity firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1407-1425, March.
    2. Comino-Jurado, María & Sánchez-Andújar, Sonia & Parrado-Martínez, Purificación, 2021. "Reassessing debt-financing decisions in family firms: Family involvement on the board of directors and generational stage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 426-435.
    3. Cirillo, Alessandro & Maggi, Barbara & Sciascia, Salvatore & Lazzarotti, Valentina & Visconti, Federico, 2022. "Exploring family millennials’ involvement in family business internationalization: Who should be their leader?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    4. Anneleen Michiels & Jelle Schepers & Pieter Vandekerkhof & Alessandro Cirillo, 2021. "Leasing as an Alternative Form of Financing within Family Businesses: The Important Advisory Role of the Accountant," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Martínez Bobillo, Alfredo & Rodríguez Sanz, Juan Antonio & Tejerina Gaite, Fernando, 2021. "Explanatory and predictive drivers of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation capacity: Evidence from family enterprises," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    6. Feito-Ruiz, Isabel & Menéndez-Requejo, Susana, 2022. "Debt maturity in family firms: Heterogeneity across countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Cirillo, Alessandro & Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando & Sánchez-Bueno, María J. & Sciascia, Salvatore, 2022. "Employee downsizing and sales internationalization strategy in family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    8. Virginia Blanco-Mazagatos & M. Elena Romero-Merino & Marcos Santamaría-Mariscal & Juan Bautista Delgado-García, 2024. "One more piece of the family firm debt puzzle: the influence of socioemotional wealth dimensions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 831-849, August.
    9. Doucet, Pablo & Requejo, Ignacio, 2022. "Financing constraints and growth of private family firms: Evidence from different legal origins," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    10. Wang, Joyce C. & Zhao, Yiyi & Sun, Sunny L. & Zhu, Jigao, 2023. "Female-friendly boards in family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    11. Alessandro Cirillo & Luca Pennacchio & Maria Rosaria Carillo & Mauro Romano, 2021. "The antecedents of entrepreneurial risk-taking in private family firms: CEO seasons and contingency factors," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1571-1590, April.

    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. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Antonia Schickinger & Alexandra Bertschi-Michel & Max P. Leitterstorf & Nadine Kammerlander, 2022. "Same same, but different: capital structures in single family offices compared with private equity firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1407-1425, March.
    4. Ampenberger, Markus & Schmid, Thomas & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Kaserer, Christoph, 2009. "Capital structure decisions in family firms: empirical evidence from a bank-based economy," CEFS Working Paper Series 2009-05, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    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. Ginesti, Gianluca & Ossorio, Mario & Dawson, Alexandra, 2023. "Family businesses and debt maturity structure: Focusing on family involvement in governance to explain heterogeneity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    7. Samuel Baixauli-Soler, J. & Belda-Ruiz, María & Sánchez-Marín, Gregorio, 2021. "Socioemotional wealth and financial decisions in private family SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 657-668.
    8. Stefania Migliori & Fabrizio Maturo & Francesco Paolone, 2018. "Capital Structure Determinants in Family Firms: An Empirical Analysis in Context of Crisis," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(4), pages 65-83, April.
    9. Rafael Garcia & António Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão, 2016. "Determinants of capital structure of firms: an analysis on the Euro Zone and the U.K," FEP Working Papers 584, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    10. Feld, Lars P. & Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Overesch, Michael, 2013. "Capital structure choice and company taxation: A meta-study," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2850-2866.
    11. 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.
    12. Hang, Markus & Geyer-Klingeberg, Jerome & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Stöckl, Stefan, 2018. "Measurement matters—A meta-study of the determinants of corporate capital structure," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 211-225.
    13. Jahanzaib Haider & Abdul Qayyum & Zalina Zainudin, 2021. "Are Family Firms More Levered? An Analysis of Family and Non-Family Firms," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    14. Giorgio Canarella & Stephen M. Miller, 2019. "Determinants of Optimal Capital Structure and Speed of Adjustment: Evidence from the U.S. ICT Sector," Working papers 2019-06, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    15. Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2017. "Determinants of capital structure in emerging markets: Evidence from Vietnam," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 105-113.
    16. Ebrahim, M. Shahid & Girma, Sourafel & Shah, M. Eskandar & Williams, Jonathan, 2014. "Dynamic capital structure and political patronage: The case of Malaysia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 117-128.
    17. San Martín, Pablo & Saona, Paolo, 2017. "Capital structure in the Chilean corporate sector: Revisiting the stylized facts," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 163-174.
    18. Iván Arribas & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & TingTing Zhu, 2021. "Optimal capital structure, model uncertainty, and European SMEs," Working Papers 2021/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    19. Niluthpaul Sarker & Roushanara Islam, 2021. "Issues on Bank’s Capital Structure and Profitability: A Developing Country Context," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 86-104.
    20. Belkhir, Mohamed & Maghyereh, Aktham & Awartani, Basel, 2016. "Institutions and corporate capital structure in the MENA region," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 99-129.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family ownership dispersion; Debt level; Intergenerational stage; Socio-emotional wealth; Capital structure; Panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    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:kap:sbusec:v:51:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9930-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.