Family ownership, family management, and multinationality: Evidence from India

Drawing on family business, international business, and emerging economy literature we theorize in this study how family ownership and family management affect important dimensions of family firm multinationality (scale, scope, and location choice). Results of empirical analysis involving a sample of Indian firms demonstrate that family ownership is negatively associated with scale and scope of multinationality, but positively associated with choice of developed economies for locating subsidiaries. Results further suggest that family management is negatively related to scale and scope of multinationality, as well as choice of developed economies for locating subsidiaries. Finally, our results provide evidence that family management moderates the relationship between family ownership and three dimensions of multinationality. Specifically, it strengthens the negative effect of family ownership on scale and scope of multinationality, but changes the choice of subsidiary location from developed to developing economies.