Abstract
This study examines family firms’ propensity to protect their intellectual property through patents. Building on the mixed gamble logic of the behavioral agency model, we theorize that family ownership has a U-shaped relationship with firm propensity to patent. Specifically, we argue that family firms’ desire to prevent losses of current socioemotional wealth (SEW) inhibits their propensity to patent until a threshold level of family ownership, beyond which the family’s SEW is secured and a greater focus on prospective financial gains attainable through patents is possible. We also suggest that environmental munificence moderates this nonlinear relationship such that a low-munificent environment accentuates the potentially detrimental (beneficial) effects of low-to-medium (medium-to-high) levels of family ownership on patents. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 4,198 small- and medium-sized family firms.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 339-367 |
Number of pages | 29 |
Journal | Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | Oct 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- environmental munificence
- family firms
- innovation
- intellectual property protection
- patent