Theoretical background
As has been discussed earlier, there is an ongoing
debate in academic literature on the relationship
between founding-family ownership and firm performance.
The background literature is therefore
reviewed for both negative and positive perspectives.
The possible influence of family ownership on firm
performance in the context of SMEs is then discussed.
This study argues that the potential advantages of
family ownership are likely to be capitalized in small
family firms. Based on the resource-based view of the
firms and the agency theory, this study links familyownership
advantages with SME characteristics and
predicts a positive association between family ownership
and SME performance