Family firms' international make-or-buy decisions: Captive offshoring, offshore outsourcing, and the role of home region focus

International sourcing decisions have received increased attention by scholars and policymakers recently as they are important predictors of firms' international competitiveness. Building on the theoretical perspective of socioemotional wealth, we introduce the distinction between family and non-family firms as an overlooked variable able to explain heterogeneous international make-or-buy choices. Using a sample of 1180 European firms, we find that family firms are more likely to engage in captive offshoring (i.e., make strategy) rather than offshore outsourcing (i.e., buy strategy). Nonetheless, we find that family firms are more successful than non-family firms when undertaking offshore outsourcing, especially when sourcing is global rather than regional

Reporting strategies: What makes family firms beat around the bush? Family-related antecedents of annual report readability

We investigate the heterogeneity of reporting strategies across family firms by focusing on the readability of annual reports. Adopting the socioemotional wealth perspective, we introduce three family-related antecedents of annual report readability to accounting and family business literature: family power, the overlap between family and firm name, and generational stage. Our findings, based on the textual analysis of 288 annual reports of Italian listed family firms, reveal that annual report readability increases at higher levels of family power, decreases at later generational stages, and when the firm carries the family name

Out of the comfort zone! Family leaders’ subsidiary ownership choices and the role of vulnerabilities

Based on the socioemotional wealth approach and a sample of 3,904 subsidiary ownership choices made by 586 family firms, this study shows that family-managed firms (i.e., those family firms with a family member in a leadership position) prefer wholly owned subsidies over joint ventures when entering foreign markets. Family-managed firms are also more likely to revise their subsidiary ownership choices and form joint ventures when in vulnerability conditions, that is, when they experience performance below aspirations and when entering a culturally distant market

Epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in Switzerland : a local exploratory cross-sectional study

Background: Female sex workers (FSWs) in many places are often considered to be highly vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, data on the STI epidemiology in FSWs are lacking in Switzerland. Our main goal was to evaluate the prevalence of six STIs (HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoea, and syphilis) among local FSWs. Methods: A prospective exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of adult (≥ 18 years) FSWs at the Lausanne University Hospital (Switzerland) from April 1 2015 to December 31 2016. FSWs who worked in street sex venues, massage parlours and brothels were approached for recruitment. All participants were offered screening for the aforementioned STIs free of charge, and received immunisation against viral hepatitis when indicated

Do we really want to cut out the deadwood?: Family-centered noneconomic goals, restructuring aversion, and escalation of commitment

We contribute to the theoretical depiction of family firms\u2019 reactions during a downturn by adopting the ability and willingness approach. Specifically, we suggest that the combination of the ability and the willingness to pursue family-centered noneconomic (FCNE) goals makes family firms less likely to engage in restructuring activities and more likely to engage in an escalation of commitment. Moreover, we further investigate the family firms\u2019 heterogeneity and introduce the idea that the willingness of family firms to pursue FCNE goals may be influenced by the geographical context and the generational stage of the enterprising family