IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ujbmxx/v47y2009i1p116-135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Large Stake Family Control on Performance: Is It Agency or Entrenchment?

Author

Listed:
  • Sharon L. Oswald
  • Lori A. Muse
  • Matthew W. Rutherford

Abstract

Agency theory posits that the greater degree of control by those with decision‐making authority, the greater the overall organizational performance. Conversely, entrenchment theory implies that at extremely high levels of inside control by those with decision authority, organizational performance decreases. Using a nationwide sample of 2,631 privately held and publically traded family businesses, we examined if the relationship of percent family ownership is an agency or entrenchment relationship and found the latter. Specifically, there was a statistically significant negative relationship between percent of family control and sales growth as well as a strong inverse relationship between percent of family controlling the top management team and all measures of financial performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharon L. Oswald & Lori A. Muse & Matthew W. Rutherford, 2009. "The Influence of Large Stake Family Control on Performance: Is It Agency or Entrenchment?," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 116-135, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ujbmxx:v:47:y:2009:i:1:p:116-135
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-627X.2008.00264.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1540-627X.2008.00264.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-627X.2008.00264.x?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.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Kosmidou, Vasiliki & Holt, Daniel T., 2022. "The relationship between family management and performance: A configurational approach in exploring the role of socioemotional wealth and generational stage," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    2. Luiz Antonio de Camargo Guerrazzi & Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra & Manuel Portugal Ferreira & Vanessa Vasconcelos Scazziota, 2022. "Using Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modelling to Advance Entrepreneurship Research: A Study on the Liabilities of Newness and Smallness," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(3), pages 603-631, November.
    3. Wang, Zhonghui “Hugo” & Randolph, Robert & Su, Emma & Memili, Esra, 2023. "How does the founding family matter in corporate governance? A study of the entrenchment heterogeneity among S&P 1,500 firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Ada Domanska & Robert Zajkowski, 2022. "Barriers to gaining support: a prospect of entrepreneurial activity of family and non-family firms in Poland," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(1), pages 191-224, March.

    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:ujbmxx:v:47:y:2009:i:1:p:116-135. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/ujbm .

    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.