Innovation in Family Firms: The Relative Effects of Wealth Concentration Versus Family-Centered Goals

Abstract

Drawing on agency and behavioral perspectives, we disentangle two critical determinants of innovation strategies among family firms, namely, the family’s wealth concentration (WC) in its business and the family’s emphasis on family-centered goals (FCGs). Our results from a survey of Australian family firms show opposite and completely independent effects of WC and family-centered noneconomic goals on family firms’ innovation strategies. While higher WC is negatively associated with firm innovation, a greater emphasis placed on family-centered noneconomic goals has a positive impact, which seems to be the key determinant of innovation strategies in family firms.