Disentangling the Effects of Knowledge Spillovers and Family Firm Nature on Innovative Performance: a Multilevel Approach

The idiosyncrasies of family firms (FFs) may enable or hamper their ability to exploit the region’s knowledge spillovers. To the date, this issue has not been addressed by the literature. The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to explore whether FF nature influences on firm innovative performance by acknowledging the fact that firm innovation happens in a certain location where firms are exposed to knowledge spillovers; and secondly, to analyse whether FF management plays a moderating role in the effects of regional knowledge spillovers on innovative outcomes. We used multilevel modelling and panel data methodology in a sample of 1191 Spanish manufacturing firms over the period 2009–2016. By applying multilevel analysis and panel data methods, the results indicate that being part of a family group increases innovative performance, and this effect seems to be even more important in regions with low technological or human capital resources.