Socio-Emotional Wealth in Mature Family Firms: Implications for International Entrepreneurship

In this study, we examine the effect of socio-emotional wealth on international entrepreneurship of family firms. Based on a family-firm sample of N=284, we find that as family firms mature, they tend to have less socio-emotional wealth, that is, family control, identification, binding social ties, and emotional attachment. SEW seems to have less impact over time, which influences family involvement and foreign revenues, in turn. More specifically, family ownership didn’t affect foreign revenues, but having family directors had a positive influence, while having family executives had a negative influence. Theoretical implications are discussed. 217