Public family firms and economic inequality across societies

in Journal of Business Venturing Insights (2023), e00376

Research and public interest on economic inequality have grown over the last years. Family firms and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few wealthy entrepreneurial families have been ... [more ▼]

Research and public interest on economic inequality have grown over the last years. Family firms and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few wealthy entrepreneurial families have been discussed as both a cause and a consequence of economic inequality. Yet, so far, we lack knowledge about the relationship between economic inequality and the prevalence of family firms in an economy. Our study investigates how the share of family-controlled public firms correlates with various measures of income and wealth inequality. The results show that a higher share of public family-controlled firms leads to more income inequality in a country. This effect is particularly pronounced for the middle of the income distribution as opposed to the top quantiles. Redistribution only mitigates this effect to some extent, as the effect is significant for market income and disposable income. We also find that a higher share of family-controlled firms contributes to an increase in wealth inequality. Our results are of economic relevance as, for instance, a one standard deviation change in the share of family-controlled firms leads to an increase of around 1.3–1.5 percentage points in the Gini coefficients for market income, disposable income, and wealth. [less ▲]

Are behavioral and electrophysiological measures of impulsivity useful for predicting entrepreneurship?

in Journal of Business Venturing Insights (2021), 16

We examine the association between several behavioral and electrophysiological indices of impulsivity-related constructs and multiple entrepreneurial constructs. Specifically, we investigate if these ... [more ▼]

We examine the association between several behavioral and electrophysiological indices of impulsivity-related constructs and multiple entrepreneurial constructs. Specifically, we investigate if these behavioral and electrophysiological measures are more useful as predictors of entrepreneurship than self-reported measures of impulsivity. Our findings are based on two datasets (n = 133 and n = 142) and indicate that behavioral and electrophysiological impulsivity measures are not robustly associated with entrepreneurship constructs, in contrast to selfreported measures of impulsivity. Though disappointing at first, our findings pave the way for future research on the relevance of behavioral and electrophysiological measures for entrepreneurship. [less ▲]

Exploring the relation between family involvement and firms’ financial performance: A replication and extension meta-analysis

in Journal of Business Venturing Insights (2020), 13

Using digital footprints in entrepreneurship research: A Twitter-based personality analysis of superstar entrepreneurs and managers

in Journal of Business Venturing Insights (2017), 8

Research indicates that individuals’ digital footprints, for example in Twitter and Facebook, can reveal remarkably valid information about their personality characteristics. In this study, we use digital ... [more ▼]

Research indicates that individuals’ digital footprints, for example in Twitter and Facebook, can reveal remarkably valid information about their personality characteristics. In this study, we use digital footprints to gain insights into the personality of superstar entrepreneurs and managers, a largely understudied population in entrepreneurship research. Specifically, we compare the personality characteristics of 106 of the most influential business leaders employing a computerized text analysis tool based on the individuals’ Twitter messages (Receptiviti). Our findings are surprising and indicate that superstar managers are more entrepreneurial in many personality characteristics than superstar entrepreneurs. However, we also found some indications that superstar entrepreneurs seem to show features of a classic “Schumpeterian” entrepreneurial personality with respect to being creative, independent rule-breakers. [less ▲]