Entrepreneurial risk taking: empirical evidence from UK family firms

Purpose – The theme of this paper is entrepreneurial risk taking. Specifically, the paper has twofold objectives: to develop insights into individual and familial correlates of risk‐taking propensity in family firms; to explore impacts of risk taking on business performance.Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative survey was conducted with the sampling frame outlined based on the FAME database. A total of 236 companies participated in this survey.Findings – The results suggest that individual and familial variables will determine the risk‐taking propensity, specifically entrepreneur's industrial tenure, age, and the controlling generation in family businesses. Furthermore, risk‐taking intensity correlates with business performance.Research limitations/implications – The cross‐sectional rather than longitudinal design of the study determines that it can only proffer a snapshot of the scenario. Further, the current study excludes non‐incorporated firms. Future explorative studies in a similar vein may b...