Family structures and governance of family SMEs in Benin

Abstract

Many studies have focused on corporate governance within large companies (Omri, 2003; Goncalves, 2013; Parada et al., 2020), but few studies have been carried out on the determinants of existing governance systems or which should be implemented within family SMEs (Panou, 2021; Salaouatchi et al., 2019). This research attempts to analyze the link between family structure and the governance of family SMEs in Benin. To achieve this objective, we adopted a quantitative methodological approach. The data collected comes from 162 family SMEs located in the cities of Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi. The reliability and validity tests and structural equations were carried out with SPSS 26 and Amos 23 software to better achieve our objective. The results obtained indicate that the nuclear-type family structure positively influences the governance of family SMEs. Conversely, the community-type family negatively influences the governance of family SMEs. The originality of this research is the taking into account of the mechanisms governing the family to better understand how the family SME organizes its governance, which adds to the literature. It helps managers of family SMEs better understand the effects of family structures on their behavior and understand their importance in survival in the face of different difficulties. As limitations, on the one hand, factors such as family protocols, family harmony were not taken into account in our model. On the other hand, this research highlights direct links between the independent variables and the dependent one, while there may be intermediate variables or moderating variables capable of improving the quality of the model. Future research will take into account cultural and religious factors to see to what extent these factors could influence the link between family structure and the governance of family SMEs. Research avenues on transmission in family SMEs by taking into account the gender of the successor, their profile, the age of the SME and the profile of its manager would also be fruitful in the Beninese case.

Keywords: Family SMEs, Governance, family structure

JEL Classification : M12

Paper type: Empirical research