Ethical correlates of family control: socioemotional wealth, environmental performance, and financial returns

We examine and test the environmental performance of family firms across 22 European countries and find that they exhibit better environmental performance than nonfamily firms. This result confirms prior research conducted in the United States. More specifically, we conclude that family firms engage...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gomez-Mejia, Luis R. 1949- (Author) ; Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando (Author) ; Requejo, Ignacio (Author) ; Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2025, Volume: 198, Issue: 4, Pages: 893-917
Further subjects:B Resource and Environmental Economics
B Substantive environmental actions
B Business Ethics
B Socioemotional wealth
B Board of directors
B Corporate Environmental Management
B Family Business
B Aufsatz in Zeitschrift
B Environmental Economics
B family firm
B Financial returns
B Energy Ethics
B Generations
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Summary:We examine and test the environmental performance of family firms across 22 European countries and find that they exhibit better environmental performance than nonfamily firms. This result confirms prior research conducted in the United States. More specifically, we conclude that family firms engage in more substantive environmental actions than nonfamily firms. Furthermore, we hypothesize and confirm that family firms do not pay a financial price for lower emissions, which should facilitate the voluntary, non-instrumental adoption of pollution control practices. Finally, we also find that the relationship between substantive environmental activities and financial returns is stronger among family firms that have family members on the board and are under the influence of the first generation.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-025-05943-9