Corporate governance issues in family and nonfamily firms: evidence from Portugal

• Main Author: Lisboa, Inês
• Publication Date: 2018
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/9015
• topic: Family firms; Corporate governance; Portugal; Listed firms; PSI 20

Family firms have idiosyncrasies which may influence corporate governance. In that regard, this work’s contribution is twofold. First, it compares corporate governance of family and non-family firms. Second, it further examines these firms, discriminating between firms listed in the Portuguese stock market index and the others. The sample includes 37 Portuguese listed firms, 16 listed in the Portuguese stock index, the PSI 20. Following a quantitative analysis, the findings show that family firms, especially the ones listed in PSI 20, have more independent members, tend to comply more with corporate governance recommendations, and display more corporate governance information on their websites than other firms. This suggests that family firms try to avoid information asymmetries, so as to evade mispricing, sustain their sustainability, and reduce agency costs.