Governance of the Internationalization of Family Firms (R-10571)

Extant research found that family involvement indeed matters for internationalization (Arregle et al., 2OL7). However, the discussion concerning the direction of the effect is surrounded by a lot of controversy and mixed evidence (Pukall and Calabro,2Ot4). At the one hand, family firm attributes such as a long term-orientation, flexibility and speed of decision-making are important resources for a successful internationalization. At the other hand, family firms are often pictured as strategically inert and conservative as a result of a deeply rooted entrepreneurial tradition and the fear of losing family control (Berrone et al., 2OI2; Salvato et al., 2010; Arregle et al., 2017). Although the number of studies on internationalization in family firms has grown substantially during the last decade, the majority of them focused on the question whether family firms internationalize less or more than nonfamily firms (De Massis et al,, 2018). However, family firms are not a homogeneous population (Jaskiewicz and Dyer, 2OI7). Only recently scholars started to investigate family firm heterogeneity (e.g., different degrees of family involvement in ownership, management and governance) in relation to internationalization but these studies also found mixed evidence. What is missing so far is an understanding of the role of family governance and corporate governance systems (and their interplay) in relation with internationalization. This PhD project aims to address this research gap. More specific, we will address five open research questions: (1) What are the (governance) antecedents of international opportunity identification in family firms?, (2) How is international opportunity identification related to the initiation of an internationalization path?, (3) How do family as well as corporate governance bodies impact this relationship? and (4) What are the performance consequences of an internationalization strategy and what is the potential moderating role of the governance bodies on this relationship. In addition, our results have important implications for practice as we will identify inhibitors and solutions for a successful internationalization strategy. Moreover, based on the academic results of this study, we aim to address also the important practical policy questions: How a connection to the home region will develop over generations? and How policy makers can create an environment so that these internationalizing family firms become a cornerstone of regional development?

Keywords:Corporate governance, Family firms

Disciplines:Business economics, International economics, Law and economics, Economic, commercial and financial law, Multilevel governance not elsewhere classified