The CSR policy of family firmsthe trade-off between internal and external stakeholders, persistence and financial consequences

Abstract

To achieve the goal of this thesis, which is to study the effect of family ownership on firms’ CSR practices and consequences, we have conducted three empirical essays from different perspectives heeding the calls of various researchers (Canavati, 2018; Mariani et al., 2021; Stock et al., 2023). The first essay seeks to examine the priorities of family firms, compared to non-family firms, concerning the type of internal versus external CSR practices. The emphasis here will be to understand how family firms prioritize internal or external CSR practices and how the family objectives are reflected in their preferences. The second essay advances in the effect of family ownership on the consequences of CSR. More precisely, we analyze the effect of the type of CSR practices (internal - external) on firms’ trade credit. Trade credit refers to the short-term financing that firms receive from their suppliers. In addition, we study the moderating role of the family firm in the CSR and trade credit relationship. Finally, the third essay investigates the determinants of persistence in CSR, such as the direct effect of the performance aspiration gap and the indirect effect of family ownership. In this paper, we deepen the analysis of CSR over time, as consequences of CSR such as reputation require the long-term commitment of firms in order for the reputation to be consolidated among stakeholders.