The Performance Implications of Business Group Affi liation for Small Businesses

This paper explores whether the benefits and costs of affiliation with a business group (BG) are influenced by firm and BG size. We explore this issue empirically using a unique data set on French small businesses ownership. Our results show that affiliation with a BG has a positive influence on small businesses performance. Moreover, we observe that the benefits of BG affiliation diminish with firm size, which is consistent with the fact that the benefits of BG affiliation increase with information imperfection. Finally, we find that the size of the BG moderates the relationship between firm affiliation and firm performance. This paper contributes to the literature by showing that organization size influences the performance implications of affiliation with a BG. Our findings might appeal to practitioners in the private equity and banking sector, as they point out that affiliation with a BG is a component of value creation in small businesses.
JEL Codes: G32; G34; L25; L26.
Keywords: Business Group; Small Business; Performance; Size.