| dc.description.abstract | This paper is an attempt to deepen the understanding of the family firm
performance compared to non-family owned companies in times of oil price shocks of
2010-2015 with period of high oil prices followed by low prices. This paper
complements the already existing literature that still provides quite contradictive results
as to whether family firms perform better or worse than non-family owned companies
in shocks. The focus of the research are the oil and shipping companies in Norway
exposed the most to the oil price volatilities. We discover that while oil and shipping
companies' performance is related positively to oil price shocks, other industries on
average react negatively to oil price increases. Further, we find some limited evidence
that family firms in these industries are less affected by the shock and experience a less
volatile performance in times of oil price shocks, which could be a result of long term
horizons, lower agency problems and better relations with debt holders. However, we
did not find evidence to support the hypothesis that a significant oil price fall of 2014
affected family firms differently. Overall, our study reveals that there might be a certain
benefit of being a family firm when oil price shocks hit, particularly for larger firms,
but the positive effects are limited and require further investigation. | nb_NO |
