Title: Internationalisation of publicly traded family firms: a transaction cost theory perspective and longitudinal analysis

Authors: Esra Memili; Kaustav Misra; James J. Chrisman; Dianne H.B. Welsh

Addresses: Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality & Tourism, Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA ' Department of Economics, College of Business and Management, The Stevens Center for Family Business, Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI 48710, USA ' Department of Management & Information Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9581, USA; Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ' Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality & Tourism, Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA

Abstract: There has been a prominent stream of research investigating internationalisation of organisations. While the importance of transaction costs in the governance decisions of firms has been well established in the literature, transaction cost theory (TCT) in family firms remains underutilised. We examine the impact of family governance (i.e. family ownership and involvement in management and the board of directors) on internationalisation within the domain of TCT using 386 S&P 500 firms. Our findings indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between family ownership and internationalisation and a U-shaped relationship between family's involvement in management and the board and internationalisation. This illustrates the interesting differential impact of the components of family involvement on internationalisation. We conclude by discussing future research and implications for practice.

Keywords: family firms; family management; family ownership; family business; internationalisation; transaction cost theory; TCT; longitudinal study; family governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2017.082538

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2017 Vol.16 No.1/2, pp.80 - 108

Received: 25 Aug 2015
Accepted: 30 Apr 2016
Published online: 28 Feb 2017 *

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