European family business owners: what factors affect their job satisfaction?

Purpose

This research aims to better understand the factors and determinants that shape the job satisfaction of European family business owners.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a unique sample of 11,362 European family business owners surveyed within the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) framework, and the main findings were obtained by estimating ordered logistic regression models.

Findings

The authors show that only 26.8% of European family business owners are women, which underlines the gender imbalance in family business ownership, and the authors' results also report that their job satisfaction is significantly lower compared to males. The authors also find the highest job satisfaction amongst family business owners with master-level degrees and point out several interesting statistically significant differences across the industry focus of the family business.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the body of knowledge on the job satisfaction of family business owners by conducting a large-scale study based on a statistically representative sample of European respondents.