While the property right theory has gained prominence in contemporary literature, there is a notable lack of empirical research into its relevance. This study delves into the implications of the property right theory concerning family-owned businesses and their impact on productivity. Specifically, we explore how family firms’ characteristics affect the benefits and hazards derived from the rights to utilize, appropriate, and transfer firm resources, influencing the production process and, more specifically, the levels and growth of a firm’s productivity. Based on an extensive dataset of European firms, our findings indicate that family-owned businesses tend to prioritize labor over capital in their production processes when compared with nonfamily firms. Moreover, the distinctive decisions regarding the production process lead to consistently lower levels of productivity in family firms. However, we also uncover that when family firms share with non–family members management and ownership control, they are less labor intensive and achieve higher productivity and productivity growth. This suggests that certain ownership and control structures can help family firms overcome the productivity gap with nonfamily firms. Overall, our findings support the ideas from recent developments in property rights theory, considering the unique characteristics of family-owned businesses. Our study contributes to strategy research on family firms and corporate governance.

中文翻译：

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所有权、控制权和生产力：比较视角下的家族企业


尽管产权理论在当代文献中占据了重要地位，但对其相关性的实证研究却明显缺乏。本研究深入探讨了产权理论对家族企业的影响及其对生产力的影响。具体来说，我们探讨家族企业的特征如何影响利用、挪用和转让企业资源的权利所带来的利益和风险，影响生产过程，更具体地说，影响企业生产力的水平和增长。基于欧洲企业的广泛数据集，我们的研究结果表明，与非家族企业相比，家族企业在生产过程中倾向于优先考虑劳动力而非资本。此外，有关生产过程的独特决策导致家族企业的生产力水平持续较低。然而，我们也发现，当家族企业与非家族成员分享管理和所有权控制权时，它们的劳动密集度较低，并实现更高的生产率和生产率增长。这表明某些所有权和控制结构可以帮助家族企业克服与非家族企业的生产力差距。总的来说，考虑到家族企业的独特特征，我们的研究结果支持了产权理论最新发展的观点。我们的研究有助于家族企业和公司治理的战略研究。