A Family Affair

Esther de Ruijter, Tanja van der Lippe, Werner Raub and Jeroen Weesie
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Esther de Ruijter: Arbeid Opleidingen Consult, Westermarkt 4a, 5042 MC Tilburg, The Netherlands, e.de.ruijter@aoconsult.nl
Tanja van der Lippe: ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Werner Raub: ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Jeroen Weesie: ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Rationality and Society, 2008, vol. 20, issue 2, 203-226

Abstract: This study focuses on co-working by intimate partners and other family members in entrepreneurs' businesses. We hypothesize that co-working by family is beneficial because it reduces trust problems associated with employment relations. On the other hand, co-working is risky because co-working family members may lose income from, and their investments in, the business in the case of bankruptcy or, specific to co-working partners, in the case of separation. Using data from the survey Households in the Netherlands 1995 ( N = 137 entrepreneurs), we find that more trust problems, indicated by monitoring problems and one-sided dependence, indeed increase co-working by partners and family. Monitoring problems influence co-working by partners, while one-sided dependence influences co-working by family members. We also find that married partners are more likely to co-work than cohabiting partners. Bankruptcy risks are associated with the likelihood of co-working, although the direction of causality remains unclear for the effects of bankruptcy risks.

Keywords: trust problems; transaction costs; co-working; family (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:20:y:2008:i:2:p:203-226

DOI: 10.1177/1043463108089545

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