The Role of Socioemotional Wealth on Performance and Financing Decision-Making in Family Firms

Abstract

The concept of Socioemotional wealth has emerged as a promising theoretical framework which will help us to explain the particular aspects of family firms and to differentiate family firms from non-family firms (Dehlen, 2013). Similarly, the Socioemotional wealth approach is called to become the potential dominant paradigm in the family business field and the most important differentiator of the family firm as a unique entity (Berrone et al., 2012; Debicki et al., 2016; Hauck et al., 2016). Additionally, because the preservation of SEW by family firms would explain the distinctive behavior and activities in family firms (De Massis et al., 2012), the different financial decisions of family firms should not be the exception; therefore, performance and financing decisions may be influenced by the SEW endowment.In this connection, this thesis revolves around the Socioemotional wealth approach and its impact on certain financial decisions made by family firms to maximize the family’s utility function (Kammerlander et al., 2015). To this end, and in order to achieve the purposes of this thesis, theoretical proposals are made, formal models are built, and empirical evidence from emerging countries (Peru, Chile and Colombia) is provided...El concepto de Riqueza Socioemocional ha surgido como un prometedor marco teórico que nos ayuda a explicar los particulares aspectos de las empresas familiares y a diferenciar a las empresas familiares de las no familiares (Dehlen, 2013). De manera similar, el enfoque de la Riqueza Socioemocional esta llamada a ser el paradigma dominante en el campo de las empresas familiares y el más importante diferenciador de las empresas familiares como entidades únicas (Berrone et al., 2012; Debicki et al., 2016; Hauck et al., 2016). Adicionalmente, debido a que la preservación de la Riqueza Socioemocional por parte de las empresas familiares explicaría el comportamiento y las actividades distintivas en las empresas familiares (De Massis et al., 2012), las diferentes decisiones financieras de las empresas familiares no deberían ser la excepción; por lo tanto, las decisiones que afectan el desempeño y el financiamiento en empresas familiares serian influenciadas por la dotación de Riqueza Socioemocional...