The Influence of Socio-Emotional Wealth on the Speed of the Export Development Proces in Family and Non-Family Firms

This paper proposes that family firms do not necessarily internationalize less than non-family businesses, but rather, they do it more slowly. Lower speed of internationalization process of family business (measured by the speed of the export development process) is a consequence of the role of the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) in these firms. SEW operates through three different mechanisms: (1) long-term orientation, (2) risk avoidance, and (3) lack of resources to be independent. The empirical research, based on a panel of more than a thousand Spanish manufacturing firms along nine years (2006-2014), supports the hypothesis proposed, independently of firm’s previous size, age, and export commitment level.