Financing of Family and Non-Family Enterprises: Is It Really Different?

Abstract

Family businesses have been a recognized part of the Slovenian economy since the revival of SMEs and entrepreneurship in the 1990s. We examined some aspects of owner-managers' attitudes towards different sources of finance, from internally generated funds of owners and the business itself, to bank loans and external equity capital, the latter being the most challenging source for the internal structure of ownership and governance of family businesses. A survey of SMEs has been analyzed, indicating statistically significant differences in attitudes and behavior. Some findings contradicted the assumed behavior, although several ways of rational explanation may be found, once the origins of family businesses in Slovenia and their short tradition were taken into consideration. www.jyu.