The Influence of Family Social Capital on both Formal and Informal Family Governance Mechanisms: the Moderating Role of Relationship Conflict

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the influence of family social capital on the presence of both formal and informal family governance mechanisms, while taking into account the moderating role of relationship conflict. This way, we address the gap in family firm literature related to scarce evidence of relational determinants of family governance mechanisms. Such relational drivers are crucial within a family firm context as relational dynamics have a vital impact on family firm governance. To test our moderation model, we will collect data from a randomly selected stratified sample of private family SMEs through a large-scale survey. Our main contribution is related to further unraveling the determinants of family governance mechanisms, while taking into account heterogeneity within such determinants.