1. |
- Andersson, Fredrik, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Female top management in family firms and non-family firms : Evidence from total population data
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1476-1297 .- 1741-8054. ; 35:3, s. 303-326
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We exploit information on ownership, management and kinship to study the representation of women in top management teams in Swedish family and non-family firms among domiciled limited liability firms over the years 2004 to 2010. The share of female top managers is analysed across listed and non-listed firms as well as across industries. We then estimate the likelihood that a woman is elected into the top management team in family and non-family firms using a probit regression model where we control for firm- A nd individual-level characteristics, including the gender distribution of the firm and kinship relations to existing board members and firm owners. We find that non-listed family firms are more likely to appoint female top managers, whereas we find no differences among listed firms. Moreover, we find that the gender composition and kinship structures of firms influence the appointment of female top managers.
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2. |
- Andersson, Fredrik, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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The Characteristics and Performance of Family Firms : Exploiting information on ownership, governance and kinship using total population data
- 2017
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Reports (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Family firms are often considered characteristically different from non-family firms, and the economic implications of these differences have generated significant academic debate. However, our understanding of family firms suffers from an inability to identify them in total population data, as this requires information on owners, their kinship and involvement in firm governance, which is rarely available. We present a method for identifying domiciled family firms using register data that offers greater accuracy than previous methods. We then apply it to data from Statistics Sweden concerning firm ownership, governance and kinship over the years 2004-2010. Next, we use Swedish data to estimate these firms’ economic contribution to total employment and gross domestic product (GDP) and compare them to private domiciled non-family firms in terms of their characteristics and economic performance. We find that the family firm is the prevalent organizational form, contributing to over one-third of all employment and GDP. Family firms are common across industries and sizes, ranging from the smallest producers to the largest multinational firms. However, their characteristics differ across sizes and legal forms, thereby indicating that the seemingly contradictory findings among previous studies on family firms may be due to unobserved heterogeneity. We furthermore find that they are smaller than private non-family firms in employment and sales and carry higher solidity, although they are more profitable. These differences diminish with firm size, however. We conclude that the term ‘family firm’ contains great diversity and call for increased attention to their heterogeneity.
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3. |
- Andersson, Fredrik, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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The Characteristics of Family Firms : Exploiting Information on Ownership, Kinship and Governance Using Total Population Data
- 2018
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In: Small Business Economics. - : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. - 0921-898X .- 1573-0913. ; 51:3, s. 539-556
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Family firms are often considered characteristically different from non-family firms. However, our understanding of family firms suffers from an inability to identify them in total population data; information is rarely available regarding owners, their kinship, and their involvement in firm governance. We present a method for identifying domiciled family firms using register data; this method offers greater accuracy than previous methods. We apply this method to Swedish data concerning firm ownership, governance, and kinship from 2004 to 2010. We find that the family firm is a significant organizational form, contributing over one third of all employment and gross domestic product (GDP). Family firms are common in most industries and range in size. Furthermore, we find that, compared to private non-family firms, family firms have fewer total assets, employment, and sales and carry higher solidity, although family firms are more profitable. These differences diminish with firm size. We conclude that the term “family firm” includes a large variety of firms, and we call for increased attention to their heterogeneity.
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4. |
- Poldahl, Andreas, 1973-
(author)
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The impact of competition and innovation on firm performance
- 2005
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This PhD thesis consists of four papers analyzing the impact of competition and innovation on Swedish manufacturing firms’ performance. Paper [I] (co-authored with Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall) analyse determinants of firm R&D using matched Swedish employer-employee data spanning the period 1990-1999. We explore if predictions from the model of creative destruction are supported by data. Using various measures of competition, results indicate that competition is likely to contract rather than expand firm R&D expenditures. In addition, firm R&D is positively correlated with its own export and to the R&D-intensity of other firms within the same concern, indicating the existence of knowledge spillovers. Paper [II] investigates the association between total factor productivity growth and the R&D expenditures of Swedish manufacturing firms in the presence of domestic- and international R&D spillovers. The paper assumes that the principal channel of transmission of new technology is through I/O relations. Econometric evidence suggests that international as well as domestic inter-industry R&D spillovers are important determinants of firms’ productivity growth in the long run. The R&D spillovers generated within the industry and following I/O links seem to be of minor importance in explaining productivity growth. It seems likely that within-industry productivity spillovers follow other channels than I/O flows, such as horizontal spillovers through copying of new products and processes, or labour turnover. The use of a convergence parameter is one way to check for such within-industry technology flows. Our results indicate that a catch-up process exists by which the non-frontier firms in the Swedish manufacturing sector absorb knowledge spillovers from the leading firms in the industry. Finally, a firm’s own R&D efforts are found to be more or less positively correlated with the TFP growth, maybe the contribution from R&D efforts in some sense are underestimated. Paper [III] (co-authored with Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall) examines whether predictions of the Aghion and Howitt (2004) model are supported by firm level data. In particular, we analyze if there is an inverted U-shaped relation between competition and R&D. Results show that the inverted U-shaped relation is supported by the Herfindahl index but not by the price cost margin. Using the Herfindahl index results suggest that breaking up monopolies increases R&D while further increases in competition most likely leads to reduced R&D. Comparing different estimators, we find that time-series based estimators typically result in less clear-cut results, probably driven by a lack of time series variation in measures of competition. Paper [IV] examines the direct and indirect effect of firm R&D on total factor productivity growth. The R&D efforts do not only stimulate innovation but also enhance firms’ ability to assimilate outside knowledge. We assume that the principal channel of transmission of new technology is through I/O relations. Econometric evidence suggests that in addition to a firm’s own R&D expenditures, R&D spillovers embodied in traded goods within the industry, others imported from abroad, and technology spillovers transferred from the technological frontier within an industry are important determinants of firms’ productivity growth. Results suggest that domestic R&D spillovers following the I/O links between industries are of minor importance in this respect. We also analyze whether firms’ absorptive capacity matters for productivity growth. Analyzing absorptive capacity is particularly important for assessing the effective contribution of spillovers from other firms. The effect of a firm’s absorptive capacity is found to interact positively with imported R&D spillovers, domestic rents spillovers seem to play a minor role for productivity growth.
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