Abstract
This study draws upon the behavioral agency model and the concept of socioemotional wealth to investigate how family firms’ employee pension underfunding decisions differ from those of non-family firms. We explore how these differences are influenced by financial distress, generational stage, and whether the firm is eponymous. We test our hypotheses using data from 452 US firms over an eleven-year period. Our results suggest that family firms are less likely to underfund pensions, but this effect is attenuated in later generational ownership stages and in non-eponymous firms.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Journal of Business Ethics |
DOIs | |
State | Accepted/In press - 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- BAM
- Ethics
- Family firm
- Pension underfunding
- Socioemotional wealth
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management
- General Business, Management and Accounting
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics
- Law