Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
1-2020
Abstract
While previous studies focus on differences between family and nonfamily firms regarding CEO selection and executive compensation, this study investigates differences among family firms with different types of kinship ties. We find that, compared with family firms with close kinship ties, those with distant kinship ties are more likely to appoint a nonfamily CEO and to pay nonfamily executives lower salaries. This relationship is moderated by firm performance and family ownership. Based on evolutionary psychology, we propose that family firms with close versus distant kinships have different motivation levels to preserve socioemotional wealth.
Keywords
kinship, family firm, executive salaries, socioemotional wealth (SEW), evolutionary psychology
Discipline
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | Strategic Management Policy
Research Areas
Strategy and Organisation
Areas of Excellence
Digital transformation
Publication
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
Volume
44
Issue
1
First Page
134
Last Page
157
ISSN
1042-2587
Identifier
10.1177/1042258719838256
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Citation
YU, Xiaodong; STANLEY, Laura; LI, Yuping; EDDLESTON, Kimberly A.; and KELLERMANNS, Franz W..
The invisible hand of evolutionary psychology: The importance of kinship in first-generation family firms. (2020). Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 44, (1), 134-157.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7806
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719838256
Included in
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Strategic Management Policy Commons