Premium
Shaped by location? A spatial panel analysis of Romanian family businesses
Author(s) -
Goschin Zizi,
Druică Elena,
Vâlsan Călin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
regional science policy and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.342
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1757-7802
DOI - 10.1111/rsp3.12284
Subject(s) - romanian , economic geography , urbanization , perspective (graphical) , context (archaeology) , dimension (graph theory) , panel data , unemployment , population , regional science , geography , demographic economics , economics , economic growth , sociology , econometrics , demography , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , pure mathematics
Research on family firms needs to be placed in a proper socio‐economic and territorial framework, since the explicit inclusion of the geographic context deepens the understanding of their characteristics. Our study tackles this neglected spatial dimension by mapping some of the factors that impact the territorial distribution of Romanian family businesses compared to non‐family ones. To this end, we employ spatial panel models that offer compelling evidence on spatial interactions and provide a better perspective on the forces shaping the geography of family firms. Consistent with previous studies, the most consequential factors of influence appear to be foreign direct investments, population density and growth, unemployment and urbanization. Our research provides new findings as well, revealing that family businesses respond differently to the regional environment, compared to non‐family firms, and are more likely to be driven by tradition, rather than market opportunities.