Family Business Identity and Corporate Governance Attributes: Evidence on Family-Owned Enterprises in the UAE

Over the past decades, the empirical evidence on the intersection of family businesses and corporate governance has flourished significantly in the context of developed economies. Yet, little is known to date about the effectiveness of various governance mechanisms in family-owned enterprises operating in emerging markets. Due to the evolving nature of corporate governance frameworks in these markets, family business practitioners need to enhance their knowledge about governance arrangements that may lead to superior performance outcomes. Our aim is to contribute to the literature and assist practitioners by exploring the relationship between family business identity and corporate governance attributes in family-run companies located in the UAE. Data related to organizational background, familial identification and governance devices were gathered from secondary sources for a sample of 195 UAE-based family firms. Based on quantitative data analyses, we uncover the prevailing characteristics of family businesses in the UAE and identify how the familial identification of its members is associated with structural attributes of board of directors and top management team (e.g., size, family relatedness, gender and cultural diversity). The concluding section discusses the contributions of our study and delineates priorities for future research in the field.