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Must Love Kill the Family Firm? Some Exploratory Evidence

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  • Vikas Mehrotra
  • Randall Morck
  • Jungwook Shim
  • Yupana Wiwattanakantang

Abstract

Family firms depend on a succession of capable heirs to stay afloat. If talent and IQ are inherited, this problem is mitigated. If, however, progeny talent and IQ display mean reversion (or worse), family firms are eventually doomed. Since family firms persist, solutions to this succession problem must exist. We submit that marriage can transfuse outside talent and reinvigorate family firms. This implies that changes to the institution of marriage—notably, a decline in arranged marriages in favor of marriages for “love†—bode ill for the survival of family firms. Consistent with this, the predominance of family firms correlates strongly across countries with plausible proxies for arranged marriage norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Vikas Mehrotra & Randall Morck & Jungwook Shim & Yupana Wiwattanakantang, 2011. "Must Love Kill the Family Firm? Some Exploratory Evidence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(6), pages 1121-1148, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:35:y:2011:i:6:p:1121-1148
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00494.x
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    2. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    3. Conz, Elisa & Lamb, Peter William & De Massis, Alfredo, 2020. "Practicing resilience in family firms: An investigation through phenomenography," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    4. 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.
    5. Hu, Min & Dou, Junsheng & You, Xialei, 2023. "Is organizational ambidexterity always beneficial to family-managed SMEs? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Kaiyang Sun & Rumintha Wickramasekera & Alvin Tan, 2022. "Exploring the Relationship Between Family Involvement and Innovative Capability in Chinese Family SMEs: The Role of HR Redundancy," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    7. Mehrotra, Vikas & Morck, Randall & Shim, Jungwook & Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 2013. "Adoptive expectations: Rising sons in Japanese family firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 840-854.
    8. Joshua J. Daspit & Rebecca G. Long, 2014. "Mitigating Moral Hazard in Entrepreneurial Networks: Examining Structural and Relational Social Capital in East Africa," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1343-1350, November.
    9. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton–Miller, 2014. "Deconstructing Socioemotional Wealth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(4), pages 713-720, July.
    10. M. Carmen Díaz-Fernández & M. Rosario González-Rodríguez & Marek Pawlak & Biagio Simonetti, 2019. "Family firm’s management composition: the role played by family members’ age in TMT and supervisor levels," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(5), pages 2421-2438, September.
    11. Tang, Junhua & Osmer, Eric & Zheng, Yao, 2022. "Do married couples make better family firm leaders: Evidence from China," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Michael Carney & Eric Gedajlovic & Vanessa M. Strike, 2014. "Dead Money: Inheritance Law and the Longevity of Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1261-1283, November.
    13. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2011. "Resilience of Family Firms: An Introduction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(6), pages 1107-1119, November.
    14. Raj V. Mahto & Jiun-Shiu Chen & William C. McDowell & Saurabh Ahluwalia, 2019. "Shared Identity, Family Influence, and the Transgenerational Intentions in Family Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Joseph Lampel & Ajay Bhalla & Kavil Ramachandran, 2017. "Family values and inter-institutional governance of strategic decision making in Indian family firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 901-930, December.
    16. King, Roger & Peng, Winnie Qian, 2013. "The effect of industry characteristics on the control longevity of founding-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 281-295.

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