Examining Heterogeneous Configurations of Socioemotional Wealth in Family Firms Through the Formalization of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Family firms purportedly use different socioemotional wealth (SEW) reference points in choosing strategies, yet empirical research continues to use family involvement as a proxy for SEW. This study uses a configurational approach to examine how the multidimensionality of SEW may be used to explain the firm’s chosen strategy. We use psychometric measures of the various SEW dimensions proposed by Berrone et al. to explain the formalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy as an example. We identify various SEW configurations to understand why family firms exhibit a preference for more formal or informal CSR strategies.