Date: 2013
Type: Thesis
Putting firms in context : the role of embeddedness in shaping corporate strategies
Florence : European University Institute, 2013, EUI, ECO, PhD Thesis
ROMANO, Livio, Putting firms in context : the role of embeddedness in shaping corporate strategies, Florence : European University Institute, 2013, EUI, ECO, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/27177
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This thesis investigates the social dimension of entrepreneurial activity, showing the importance of embeddedness with local communities and institutions in affecting corporate strategies. The first two chapters contribute to the literature on family firms. The focus on family businesses allows us to study the importance of non-pecuniary benefits and costs attached to control, which are tightly linked to the degree of personal accountability that shareholders have for the actions of the company. The two chapters both use a difference-in-difference identification strategy to study how employment policies, and access to bank lending, differed between family and non-family firms during the recent economic and financial crisis. In particular, the first chapter looks at the geographical distribution of workforce adjustments, finding evidence of a systematic preference in family firms for job preservation and job creation close to their headquarters. The second chapter shows how the presence of a family block-holder had a positive effect in mitigating the adverse effects of the credit crunch. The third chapter of the thesis instead studies the importance of shared norms and values arising at the level of local social networks in reducing the uncertainty involved in hiring new workers. Specifically, it shows that a shared community of origin between employers and employees positively affects both the likelihood of retaining a job after a takeover and the economic performance of the acquiring firm.
Additional information:
Examining Board: Professor Andrew Ellul, University of Indiana Professor Luigi Guiso, Supervisor, EIEF, Rome Professor Andrea Ichino, University of Bologna Professor Alessandro Sembenelli, University of Torino.; Defence date: 4 June 2013; First made available online on 9 July 2013.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/27177
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/64998
Series/Number: EUI; ECO; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Social responsibility of business; Social entrepreneurship