Family firms and R&D spending

Abstract

This chapter explores R&D spending in family firms. R&D spending is used as an indicator for long-term orientation in innovative industries. Long-term orientation refers to the stance of a firm that focuses on benefits accruing over the long term. The following research questions are analyzed: (1) Are family firms spending more on R&D than non-family firms? (2) What are the effects of family ownership, family management, and family firm age on R&D spending?

This chapter is a substantially revised version of Block and Thams (2007b). The paper was presented at European Business School (European Family Business Center), Technische Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität München (TIME Kolloquium, Seminar für Empirische Wirtschaftsforschung), Erasmus University Rotterdam (Organization Seminar), the 2007 and 2008 annual conferences of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA), the 2008 Academy of Management Meetings, and the G-Forum 2007 (annual conference of the FGF). It received the Jack A. Dinos/Cox Family Enterprise Center Best Family Business Paper Award at the 2008 Academy of Management Meetings and the Family Business Network (FBN) Best Family Business Research Paper (Policy) Award at the 2008 annual IFERA conference. An abridged version of the paper is also included in the best paper proceedings of the 2008 Academy of Management Meetings (see Block and Thams, 2008).