The influence of family businesses and women directors on innovation

ABSTRACT

This work seeks to contribute to the debate about whether or not family businesses are more innovative than other kind of companies, and explore the specific effects women on boards have on innovation, comparing family and non-family businesses. Data collected from Spanish listed companies belonging to innovative sectors between 2003 and 2017 confirm that being a family business impacts positively on the number of registered patents and the proportion of women on boards exert a positive influence on R&D and patents. Moreover, the proportion of women on boards influences innovation in a different way when family and non-family businesses are compared, and depending on whether female directors belong or not to the family of control. Therefore, the results obtained suggest some relevant recommendations for research and practitioners, providing new insights into the debate on the benefits of family companies for innovation and of gender diversity of their boards.

KEYWORDS:

• Board of directors
• women on board
• family businesses
• innovation

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• M10
• M14

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.