Family faith, altruistic values and community CSR in family firms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between family faith, altruistic family business values and community CSR in private family firms. Design/methodology/approach This study uses structural equation modeling to analyze survey data from 378 US-based private family firms. Findings This study finds a positive relationship between altruistic business values and community CSR. The study also finds a positive relationship between family faith beliefs and altruistic business values when family faith participation is high. However, when family faith participation is low, the relationship between family faith beliefs and altruistic business values is nonsignificant. Originality/value While prior work has argued that family firms often engage in CSR more than non-family firms, less work has been done to understand heterogeneity in CSR amongst family firms. This study identifies key antecedents that help explain such heterogeneity—altruistic business values and family faith—and identifies conditions under which they have a positive effect on CSR.