Public family businesses and corporate social responsibility assurance: The role of mimetic pressures

Extant research focuses on firms’ voluntary demand for corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA) and highlights the roles of country- and industry-level factors on firms’ CSRA decisions. We use different types of agency problems to explain their CSRA decisions at the firm level and explain why over time public family businesses (PFBs) vary in their resistance to the mimetic pressures from earlier CSRA adopters in the same sector. We analyze a sample of firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Taipei Exchange firms during 2014–2017 and find that the likelihood of acquiring CSRA is lower in PFBs than in non-family firms. Furthermore, we find that the industry-level mimetic pressures weaken the negative association between the likelihood of acquiring CSRA and PFBs with less severe central agency problems. However, PFBs with severer central agency problems are still unwilling to acquire CSRA even under the pressure from peer CSRA adopters.     

独立董事、资源支持与企业边界连结:由上市家族公司生发

独立董事是连接企业边界内外的社会桥,是家族企业获得外部资源支持的重要渠道,其资源吸纳能力与社会桥的网络结构密切相关。鉴于公司研发投入与公司社会资本吸纳间存在着相关关系,在将独立董事社会桥划分为网络规模、网络构成和网络密度三个刻画维度后,讨论了其对上市家族公司开发支出的影响。实证结果显示,独立董事社会桥的网络构成与公司开发支出显著相关。独立董事占据的结构洞越多,公司越倾向于加大研发投入。同时,网络密度也是影响开发支出的显著变量,密切的交往有助于社会资本的吸纳。     

Alex Cowan & Sons Ltd,Papermakers, Penicuik: a Scottish case of Weber's Protestant Work Ethic

This study examines Weber's Protestant Work Ethic and its power in explaining the business ethos and progress of a leading Scottish papermaking firm, Alex Cowan & Sons Ltd. of Penicuik, which existed independently from 1779 to 1965. Beginning with a summary of the Protestant Work Ethic, as outlined in Weber's thesis of 1904–06, a review of key debates around it is given, followed by details of some recent works which demonstrate its continuing relevance for historical scholars as well as the shortcomings of some recent studies which have sought to test it in detail. A brief outline of the business progress of Cowan's papermaking business then follows, after which key aspects of Weber's thesis are tested against the firm's experience. The study concludes that Weber's thesis adequately describes the motivation and progress of the firm and its owners, providing detailed empirical evidence which supports the Weber thesis and justifies further detailed studies.     

As old as history: Family-controlled business groups in transport services: the case of SEUR

This article presents empirical evidence about the contribution of family-controlled business groups as highly efficient alternatives to the large vertically integrated and professionally managed corporation in specific institutional and market environments. This hypothesis is tested with a single case study, SEUR, in the Spanish transport services sector. SEUR is one of the most prominent Spanish courier companies. It was founded during Franco's dictatorship, expanded in democratic times, and imaginatively adapted to the financial challenges of the late globalisation at the end of the twentieth century, while maintaining the traditional values based on personal trust and family ties.     

Every flow has its ebb: The impact of flow on work–family conflict and adjustment in global careers

Despite an increase in research in psychology on the mental state of flow, little is known within the area of organisational studies about its “dark side.” Although prior organisational studies literature suggests that flow leads to generally positive work outcomes, we use conservation of resources theory to argue that expatriates in the state of flow can accumulate resources that lead to work adjustment but at the same time may experience unintended negative work–family conflict consequences. Specifically, we argue that being in the state of flow can improve expatriates' work adjustment because they can concentrate on the task at hand in an unencumbered way. Yet the exclusive concentration on work tasks and the distortion of time while in the state of flow may reduce psychological and time resources available to the family, resulting in work–family conflict. We explore whether flow theory needs to be altered to discover potentially negative work–family conflict outcomes inherent in the complex work regimes associated with global careers. Structural equation modelling analyses based on a sample of 230 expatriates in the United States and 169 expatriates in Brazil revealed that flow increased both work–family conflict and work adjustment.     

Family Arrangements and Children's Education Among Migrants: A Case Study of China

As China is experiencing an urban revolution with massive rural-to-urban migration, millions of children are profoundly affected by their parents’ migration and their decisions about family arrangements. With the discriminatory hukou system and harsh living conditions in cities, the dilemma migrant parents face is whether they should take their children with them to the city or leave them behind. This decision determines the household, school and community environments that children live in, which, in turn, shape their well-being. With a unique strategy of comparing ‘left-behind children’ to ‘migrant children’ and a gendered perspective, this article examines how different family arrangements among migrants and consequent housing conditions and gender dynamics affect children's educational well-being. Our findings demonstrate the complex impact of family arrangements on children, which is conditioned by wage income and the gender of the absent parent and the child. We find that children from less favorable socio-economic backgrounds benefit more from moving to cities. Children living with both parents and those living with their mother or grandparents tend to do better. While the effect of housing conditions is marginal, family arrangements have a gendered effect on children. Related policy recommendations are provided.     

Family Firm Heterogeneity and Tax Aggressiveness: A Mixed Gamble Approach

Few studies try to understand how the unique preferences of family firms affect tax strategies, and how family firm heterogeneity drives variation in tax activities. Drawing on the mixed gamble approach, this study examines the tax aggressiveness of different types of family firms, considering how various sources of heterogeneity alter the perception of potential gains and losses to socioemotional and financial wealth. Based on a panel dataset of 242 private family firms for the period 2012–2014, this study shows that strong family-owned firms, family firms with a family CFO, family-founder firms, and family-named firms display lower levels of tax aggressiveness. These findings demonstrate that family firm heterogeneity is a crucial factor in the mixed gamble calculus of tax aggressiveness.     

家庭承包经营收益分配制度的反思与重构

现行法律和政策关于家庭承包经营制下农户享有完整收益权的规定,以维护农户土地利益和提升农地经营效率为目标。集体所有权的价值功能在于为集体成员提供平等的土地保障,但是,承包关系长久不变,使得农户分享土地利益代际代内不均等;集体不得参与家庭经营收益分配,加剧集体公共服务的供给不足和家庭承包经营的低效率。从集体所有权的成员受益权能有效实现的视角出发,需要更新立法理念和制度设计,确认农民集体基于农户公平分享集体土地利益而行使的农地利益调节权,以及农民集体基于农户共享集体公共服务利益而行使的必要收益权。     

Family ownership and stockholder reactions to environmental performance disclosure: A test of secondary agency relationships

Using the first ever Newsweek “Green Rankings” of the 500 largest U. S. firms in 2009 as a significant historical event, we test for the stockholder reaction to ratings of corporate environmental performance. Both the conventional null hypothesis significance testing and Bayesian approaches show that stockholders react significantly more positively to corporations with higher ratings of corporate environmental performance and that this effect is stronger in family owned firms. Our findings suggest that majority shareholders do not necessarily appropriate minority stockholders' rents when investing in environmental activities, as would be the case in the presence of “Type II” agency conflicts between majority family owners and minority stockholders. The family ownership effect is also found to be stronger in dirty (heavy polluting) industries as well as in more competitive and more opaque industry contexts.     

Testing two mechanisms linking work-to-family conflict to individual consequences: do gender and gender role orientation make a difference?

Based on social role theory and a gender role orientation perspective, this study extended the two mechanisms (i.e. resource depletion and source attribution) that link work-to-family conflict to perceived accomplishment in the family and work domains by testing the moderating effects of gender and gender role orientation on the relationships. Data were collected from managers via questionnaires in China, and 225 cases were analyzed with hierarchical regression models. The results showed that compared with female managers, the negative relationship between work-to-family conflict and perceived family accomplishment was stronger for male managers. Within the male group, we found that the negative relationship between work-to-family conflict and perceived family accomplishment was stronger for male managers with an egalitarian gender role orientation than those with a traditional gender role orientation. In addition, for male managers with a traditional gender role orientation, there was a positive relationship between work-to-family conflict and perceived work accomplishment. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.