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Correlates of Board Empowerment in Small Companies

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  • Jonas Gabrielsson

Abstract

This study seeks to advance the understanding of board empowerment in small companies. Predictions based on agency and resource dependency theories were used to examine how contingency factors correlate with board empowerment, in this study conceptualized as a larger number of board members, a higher representation of outside directors, and separate CEO and board chair positions. Statistical analyses on a sample of 135 small companies gave ample support for the agency–theoretic prediction that board empowerment in small companies is a response to satisfy the demands from owners not directly involved in managing the company. Other factors influencing board empowerment were younger CEOs, high degree of exports, and past poor company performance. The influence of these contingency factors, however, was not as strong and extensive as the presence of outside owners. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and their implications for understanding boards and governance in small companies.

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  • Jonas Gabrielsson, 2007. "Correlates of Board Empowerment in Small Companies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 687-711, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:31:y:2007:i:5:p:687-711
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00195.x
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    8. María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez & Isabel Gallego-Álvarez, 2020. "Do board characteristics drive firm performance? An international perspective," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1251-1297, December.
    9. Claudio Camfield & Mário Franco, 2019. "Professionalisation of the Family Firm and Its Relationship with Personal Values," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 28(1), pages 144-188, March.
    10. Knockaert, Mirjam & Bjornali, Ekaterina S. & Erikson, Truls, 2015. "Joining forces: Top management team and board chair characteristics as antecedents of board service involvement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 420-435.
    11. Waseem Akhter & Arshad Hassan, 2024. "Does corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance? Empirical evidence from BRICS countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 566-578, January.
    12. Oliver Lukason & María-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano, 2020. "Corporate Governance Characteristics of Private SMEs’ Annual Report Submission Violations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, September.
    13. Kimberly A. Eddleston & Franz W. Kellermanns & Thomas M. Zellweger, 2012. "Exploring the Entrepreneurial Behavior of Family Firms: Does the Stewardship Perspective Explain Differences?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(2), pages 347-367, March.
    14. Alexander Libman & Tatiana G. Dolgopyatova & Andrey A. Yakovlev, 2014. "The Birth Of An Entrepreneurial Board In Emerging Markets: A Russian Case," HSE Working papers WP BRP 29/MAN/2014, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

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