Abstract
Family firms are known for their reluctance to invest in R&D. We show that strengthened trade secret protection is associated with higher R&D investment by family firms. More specifically, we show that the association between the strength of trade secret protection through the U.S. Uniform Trade Secrets Act and R&D investment is positively moderated by family control. Our results further show that the positive moderation of family control on the association between the strength of trade secret protection and R&D investment varies with the industry context, being stronger in high-tech industries and weaker in discrete product industries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 361-382 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Family Business Review |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 29 Sep 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
