Internal social capital and international firm performance in emerging market family firms: The mediating role of participative governance

Abstract

Family firms benefit from internal social capital, which refers to resources related to structural, relational and cognitive aspects of family relationships. However, it is not clear if and how possession of internal social capital can enhance the international performance of emerging economy family firms. Based on the data collected from 192 small- and medium-sized family firms from Turkey, we show that family firms can improve their international firm performance by utilising the internal social capital of family relationships. Our findings also demonstrate that the relationship between internal social capital and international firm performance is mediated by participative governance capability. In participative governance, family members as well as board members have the capability to contribute to strategic decision-making and implementation. We also show that all structural, relational and cognitive aspects of internal social capital should be developed in order to improve international firm performance.