Family Business Review current issue

Editors' Note: The Craft of Reviewing

Sharma, P., Kellermanns, F. W. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:10 PST

The Role of the Secondary Market for Life Insurance in Preserving a Family Business

Adams, E. S., Sabes, J. R. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

A family business may have a hidden asset that can be tapped and sued to its advantage to fight off competitive threats, access capital in difficult times, act upon growth opportunities, or diversity assets. This untapped asset is a life insurance policy. Many family businesses own life insurance to protect their owners and are ideal candidates for life settlement if they do not own a qualifying policy. This article argues that the secondary market of life insurance provides viable estate planning strategies for family businesses and should be safeguarded and preserved from the efforts of the insurance industry and other organizations to limit their use.

Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: The Role of High-Performance Work Systems

Tsao, C.-W., Chen, S.-J., Lin, C.-S., Hyde, W. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

The controversial findings of both high and low performance for family-controlled public firms offer a unique context in which to study the moderating role of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on founding-family ownership effects. In a sample of Taiwan-based public firms, founding-family ownership was found not to be associated with firm performance. However, when the level of HPWS facing family ownership was accounted for, the results showed that the relationship between founding-family ownership and firm performance is significantly negative for companies with lower levels of HPWS but is significantly positive for companies with higher levels of HPWS.

Private Family Ownership and the Agency Costs of Debt

Steijvers, T., Voordeckers, W. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

This article presents empirical evidence on the agency costs of debt in private family firms by examining the explicit (interest rate) as well as implicit (business and personal collateral) bank loan price simultaneously. Using a cross sectional sample of lines-of-credit of the NSSBF database, family firms appear to be more likely to pledge personal collateral which suggests that agency costs of debt are higher in family firms. Hence, personal collateral seems to be a better instrument than interest rates or business collateral for financial institutions to cope with the specific agency problems (e.g. self-control problems and negative effects of parental altruism) in family firms.

Family Ownership, Board Independence, and R&D Investment

Chen, H.-L., Hsu, W.-T. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

Family influence is central in Asian countries; however, little research exists regarding the effects of family ownership and corporate governance on corporate investment decisions. This article examines the relationships among family ownership, board independence, and R&D investment using a sampling of Taiwanese firms. The finding of the negative family ownership—R&D investment relationship suggests that family ownership may discourage risky long-term R&D investment. Such a finding may also suggest that firms with high family ownership may use R&D investment more efficiently and thus need less R&D in relation to firms with low family ownership. In addition, the interaction of family ownership and CEO duality/independent director ratio is negatively/positively related to R&D investment, suggesting that firms with high family ownership may increase R&D investment when the CEO—chair roles are separated or when more independent outsiders are included in the board.

A Conversation With Sara Miller McCune, Founder of the SAGE Publishing Group

Bianchi, C. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

Book Review: Annino, P., Davidow, T., Harrison, C. A., & Davidow, L. (2009). Women in Family Business: What Keeps You Up at Night? Charleston, SC: BookSurge. Barrett, M., & Moores, K. (2009). Women in Family Business Leadership Roles: Daughters on the Edge. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Gupta, V., Levenburg, N., Moore, L. L., Motwani, J., & Schwarz, T. V. (2008). Culturally Sensitive Models of Gender in Family Business: A Compendium Using the GLOBE Paradigm. Hyderabad, India: ICFAI University Press

McCollom Hampton, M. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

Ad Hoc Reviewers for 2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST

Family Business Review--Special Issue September 2011: Marketing and Family Businesses

Fischer, E., Reuber, A. R. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:11 PST