Do Small Family Firms Outperform Non-family Firms？ A Research Agenda Based on Agency and Stewardship Theories＊

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of family involvement and altruism on agency costs of equity and debt, as well on the performance of small family businesses. To achieve this objective, the authors reviewed the literature on family business. Drawing from agency theory and stewardship theory, the authors also proposed a research model that highlights the links among the variables. In so doing, this paper makes some contributions to the literature in three ways. Firstly, it takes an integrative framework that may help to explain behaviors oriented towards maximizing potential performance within a context in which pro-organizational attitudes co-exist with self-serving motivations. Secondly, it advances the understanding of corporate governance mechanisms in small family businesses, and finally, it deepens the discussion of prior research by advancing a set of propositions based on two theoretical approaches. Thus, the authors believe that a systematic comparison of different contexts provides new insights into small family business governance. The implications and directions for future research are in the last section.     

Should I stay or should I go? Agency nursing work in the UK

There are competing perspectives as to whether agency represents the desire to be a ‘free agent’ in terms of greater flexibility and control, or whether it represents a reluctant retreat from permanent employment. This paper explores the reasons why nurses in the UK work on an agency basis through surveys of two nursing agencies and asks: to what extent do supply-side preferences contribute to the decision for nurses to work on an agency basis? How does working on an agency basis affect the work-life balance and career aspirations of nurses? Two surveys were conducted; one with a ‘generalist’ nurse agency; and one with a ‘specialized’ agency, in order to examine the impact of rare/specialized skills on pecuniary motives. It is found that while nurses who also have a permanent job are more likely to report pecuniary factors as influencing the decision to work through agencies, nurses who solely work agency are more likely to emphasize work-life balance issues and escaping ‘office politics’ as key factors. Importantly, the findings point to the continued appeal of agency work as a means to exit the nursing workplace, suggesting that government reforms to increase the appeal of nursing as a profession have only partially addressed the concerns of nurses.     

“The Times They Are a-Changin”: Family Responsibilities Discrimination and the EEOC

Family responsibilities discrimination, bias against workers based on their responsibilities to care for family members is widespread in many organizations and is rapidly becoming a twenty-first century workplace concern. Employers who harass, pass over for promotion, and even terminate workers because they care for children, elderly parents or spouses, or disabled family members have been sued with more frequency and have been paying increasing amounts in verdicts. Recently, the EEOC took an important step toward ending this discrimination by issuing enforcement guidelines that will educate employers and employees about family responsibilities discrimination and caregivers’ rights and responsibilities. The Guidelines explain how federal equal employment opportunity laws apply to workers who struggle to balance work and family, and what firms can do to avoid potential legal problems and accompanying liabilities with respect to family responsibilities and caregiving discrimination.

Analysis of the Critical Aspects of the Generational Turnover in Family Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises （SMEs）

Family businesses, which aim at surviving today, have to deal with a precise modality： To ensure their continuity, entrepreneurs have to ensure the transfer of leadership from one generation to another inside of them. We do believe that this matter is worth being analyzed, since the succession, from one generation to another, can be considered as a crucial variable in maintaining family small- and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） over time. Therefore, after investigating the main features, problems, and factors leading to the succession processes, in the second part of this article, an empirical analysis will be carried out, by comparing several European countries on the basis of data from the European Commission. This article contributes to enriching, from a theoretical point of view, the conceptual framework used for investigating the dynamics in the continuity of SMEs. Moreover, empirically, it contributes to the increasing literature on family businesses by comparing several European countries in order to understand what originates the longevity of family SMEs.     

Why Does Growing up in an Intact Family during Childhood Lead to Higher Earnings during Adulthood in the United States?*

With a view to finding an explanation of the observed differences in adult annual earnings between workers raised in intact (INTACT) and non‐intact families in the US labor market, this study tests two hypotheses. First, workers growing up in intact families during childhood earn more during their adulthood because they acquire more years of schooling, which in turn affect their wages positively. Second, intact family background acts as an instrument for numerous factors that contribute to workers' happiness during adulthood. Since happier workers, with other characteristics held constant, are known to have higher earnings, workers raised in intact families during childhood by leading a relatively happier life during their adulthood earn more than their otherwise identical non‐intact counterparts. Both these hypotheses find strong support from the US data. The evidence of simultaneous relationships between wage and happiness and between happiness and schooling confirms that the true effect of INTACT on wage may be much larger than what is envisaged by a simple one‐step process. Regardless of whether this relationship is due to causation or correlation, the study simply demonstrates that the US evidence of higher earnings associated with workers raised in intact families may be attributed partly to their higher levels of schooling and happier lives. By demonstrating a significant positive relationship between the stability of parental family structure during childhood and earnings during adulthood, the current study highlights the importance of responsible parenthood as a means of improving the child's future economic performance.