Gentry & Dibrell Publish

Dr. Rich Gentry (CIE Director), Dr. Clay Dibrell (CIE Executive Director) and Dr. Jaemin Kim, a recent graduate of Ole Miss, just had their paper titled “Long‐Term Orientation in Publicly Traded Family Businesses: Evidence of a Dominant Logic” published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, the number one domain specific journal in entrepreneurship research.  Looking at large firms in the S&P1500 index, they found the participation of members of the firm’s founding family on the board significantly raised a firm’s available cash, lowered debt and tended to reduce the firm’s risk.  The dataset included firms over 10 years and further suggests that, even in large firms with substantial public ownership, the influence of a founding family can be very strong and is persistent after the firm’s founder has retired.  They are extending the work to examine whether firm’s with a strong family influence differ in whom they select to be directors.