{"title":"One more piece of the family firm debt puzzle: the influence of socioemotional wealth dimensions","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s11187-024-00881-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>The literature on debt financing in family firms is still inconclusive. Initial studies have usually focused on the influence of family involvement on firm’s debt levels by using the explanations of traditional economic theories. More recent studies have begun to focus on the role of family goals in family firm debt levels, particularly drawing on socioemotional wealth (SEW), which has helped in the development of financial theories of family business. Nevertheless, existing arguments have usually not considered SEW as a multidimensional construct that covers diverse family goals. In addition, literature has usually drawn on arguments considering SEW as a stock, but have not considered the importance given to SEW (SEWi), which specifically acknowledges SEW as a goal. Our paper responds to recent calls to extend theoretical arguments on the effect of diverse dimensions of SEWi on family firm behavior and to focus on the role of SEWi on the family firms’ debt. Specifically, we test how the CEOs’ assessment of the importance that their family attaches to the continuity, prominence, and enrichment dimensions of SEWi influences the level of debt. To do so, we use a sample of 126 Spanish unlisted family businesses. Our results show that the continuity dimension of SEWi leads family businesses to increase their debt level being a key determinant of this financing decision.</p>","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"327 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Small Business Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-024-00881-8","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The literature on debt financing in family firms is still inconclusive. Initial studies have usually focused on the influence of family involvement on firm’s debt levels by using the explanations of traditional economic theories. More recent studies have begun to focus on the role of family goals in family firm debt levels, particularly drawing on socioemotional wealth (SEW), which has helped in the development of financial theories of family business. Nevertheless, existing arguments have usually not considered SEW as a multidimensional construct that covers diverse family goals. In addition, literature has usually drawn on arguments considering SEW as a stock, but have not considered the importance given to SEW (SEWi), which specifically acknowledges SEW as a goal. Our paper responds to recent calls to extend theoretical arguments on the effect of diverse dimensions of SEWi on family firm behavior and to focus on the role of SEWi on the family firms’ debt. Specifically, we test how the CEOs’ assessment of the importance that their family attaches to the continuity, prominence, and enrichment dimensions of SEWi influences the level of debt. To do so, we use a sample of 126 Spanish unlisted family businesses. Our results show that the continuity dimension of SEWi leads family businesses to increase their debt level being a key determinant of this financing decision.
期刊介绍:
Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal (SBEJ) publishes original, rigorous theoretical and empirical research addressing all aspects of entrepreneurship and small business economics, with a special emphasis on the economic and societal relevance of research findings for scholars, practitioners and policy makers.
SBEJ covers a broad scope of topics, ranging from the core themes of the entrepreneurial process and new venture creation to other topics like self-employment, family firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovative start-ups, and entrepreneurial finance. SBEJ welcomes scientific studies at different levels of analysis, including individuals (e.g. entrepreneurs'' characteristics and occupational choice), firms (e.g., firms’ life courses and performance, innovation, and global issues like digitization), macro level (e.g., institutions and public policies within local, regional, national and international contexts), as well as cross-level dynamics.
As a leading entrepreneurship journal, SBEJ welcomes cross-disciplinary research.
Officially cited as: Small Bus Econ