Are founding families less willing to bear risk? Evidence from the currency exposure and internationalization strategy of family firms. Issue 1 (7th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Anderson, Ronald C.; Bergbrant, Mikael C.; Hunter, Delroy M.; Reeb, David M.
• Is Part Of: Financial management. Volume 52:Issue 1(2023)
• Page Start: 41
• Page End: 66
• Publication Date: 2022-12-07
• Subjects: conditional risk -- currency risk -- exchange rate exposure -- family firms -- internationalization -- organizational structure; Corporations -- Finance -- Periodicals; 658.1505
• DOI: 10.1111/fima.12410
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0046-3892

Abstract

Abstract: Although theory predicts that family firms should be less willing to bear risk than nonfamily firms, prior empirical papers have not found support for this prediction. In this paper, we focus on conditional currency risk because founding families can relatively easily influence their firms' currency exposure. We find that family firms have relatively lower conditional currency exposure. This result holds for both descendant‐led and nonfamily‐led family firms. Consistent with purposeful actions of founding families, we find that exposure decreases with control‐enhancing mechanisms, such as excess voting rights. The findings also support a wealth‐preservation motive, evidenced by a finding that exposure declines with the number of family beneficiaries. Additional analysis suggests that family firms achieve the relatively lower risk by reducing internationalization depth and limiting exposure to riskier currencies.