Entrepreneurial paths to family firm performance

This article draws upon a new framework, proposing that family firm financial performance does not depend on single distinctive antecedents, but rather on the combination (configurations) of multiple entrepreneurial, governance- and family-related factors (innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, transfer intentions and family involvement). Drawing on a sample of 149 family firms, this study employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate these configurations as antecedents of firm performance. Its findings show four common configurations which strongly relate to above-average performance. In seven qualitative follow-up interviews, the study discusses these four configurations and three additional contrarian cases that also lead to positive performance.