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Trade secret protection and R&D investment of family firms

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)
27 Downloads (Pure)

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 languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)361-382
Number of pages22
JournalFamily Business Review
Volume35
Issue number4
Early online date29 Sept 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Keywords

  • R&D investments
  • UTSA
  • family firms
  • intellectual property protection
  • socioemotional wealth
  • trade secret protection

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