The strategic behavior of family firms: studies on innovation and corporate social performance

This PhD research investigated the impact of family firms as a unique type of ownership group with a significant impact on a firm’s strategic behavior, which differs from non-family firms. Family firms consider non-financial goals in addition to financial objectives when making strategic decisions. Such non-financial objectives include, for example, reputation, relationships, and dynastic succession, while non-family firms prioritize profit maximization. This preference for non-financial goals is often considered irrational from a purely economic perspective, making traditional economic models ineffective at predicting family firm behavior. The research provides empirical evidence showing differences in innovation outputs, innovation inputs, and a firm's corporate social performance that are linked to the influence of family ownership. In the first study, the impact of institutional investors on family firm innovation output is examined, specifically in public family firms. The second study focuses on private family firms and investigates the relationship between family ownership and innovation input. In the last study, a new theoretical model is proposed for family firms that considers the impact of family ownership on corporate social performance.