As sustainability is pivotal in combating the global warming and climate change crisis, we examine whether family firms differ from their nonfamily counterparts in the sustainability practices they adopt. Using a large sample of listed firms from 45 countries over an 8-year period, we show that family firms on average engage less in pollution prevention, green supply chain management, and green product development practices than nonfamily firms. Our results remain consistent after correcting for the endogeneity of family ownership, using alternative model specifications and variable definitions. Our findings hold important implications for both theory and practice.
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/J.techfore.2021.121079