Entrepreneurial Orientation in Family Firms: Looking at a European Outermost Region

Abstract

This study addresses a current debate in the family business literature involving the extent to which the family business context hinders or promotes entrepreneurial behavior. The empirical evidence is provided by 155 small-sized firms, 82 family-controlled and 73 nonfamily-controlled, operating in an outermost region, the Autonomous Region of the Azores. This study analyzes the differences between family and nonfamily firms in regard to entrepreneurial orientation and how it is influenced by family participation. Results show that there are differences in entrepreneurship orientation and in two of its three dimensions, while revealing that family participation is negatively associated with entrepreneurial orientation and its three dimensions.