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Founders Versus Descendants: How Generational Leadership Differences Affect the Use Of Cash Profit Sharing in Family Firms

Frank Mullins | March, 2026

While family firms tend to outperform nonfamily firms when using cash profit sharing, our understanding of their propensity to engage in cash profit sharing is limited. Drawing on the behavioral agency theory and the socioemotional wealth preservation literature, this study examines the propensity of family firms under different generations of familial leadership (founders vs. descendants) … Read More

Cash Profit Sharing and Labour Productivity in Family Firms: Exploring the Effects of R&D and Capital Intensities

Esra Memili, Frank Mullins | November, 2024

While equity-based employee incentives can positively affect labour productivity in family firms, our understanding of the effect of nonequity-based employee incentives remains limited. Integrating expectancy theory with the socioemotional wealth preservation literature, our study investigates the impact of cash profit sharing (CPS) on family firms’ labour productivity. Specifically, CPS is viewed as a motivational device … Read More

Beyond the Short-Term: the Effects of Broad-Based Employee Ownership on Labor Productivity in Family and Nonfamily Firms

Frank Mullins | January, 2023

Purpose This study investigates whether broad-based employee ownership (BBEO), in isolation and in conjunction with cash profit sharing (CPS), can enhance labor productivity in family firms over nonfamily firms. Design/methodology/approach Hypothesis testing was conducted using cross-sectional time-series regression with a matched sample of 393 family and nonfamily firms listed on the US S&P 500 over … Read More

Broad-Based Employee Stock Ownership: What Makes It Effective in the Management of Human Resources?

Dan Weltmann, Douglas Kruse, Frank Mullins, Joseph Blasi | November, 2019

Research linking broad‐based employee stock ownership (BESO) with firm performance continues to receive considerable attention both in and outside the field of management. Despite the evidence being generally positive regarding the BESO–firm performance relationship, there has been a relative dearth of research providing insights into the circumstances surrounding the effectiveness of BESO. With this research … Read More

A Piece of the Pie? The Effects of Familial Control Enhancements on the Use of Broad‐Based Employee Ownership Programs in Family Firms

Frank Mullins | September, 2018

While family firms tend to be highly committed to their employees, scholars contend that founding family owners are likely hesitant when it comes to sharing ownership broadly with non-family employees. Taking a heterogeneous view of family firms, this study investigates the implications of different familial control‐enhancing mechanisms on the use of broad‐based employee ownership programs … Read More