Immigrant firms’ commitment and survival: Does owner identity matter?

How does immigrant ownership influence small firm survival in comparison with that of family ownership? While it is generally accepted that socioemotional wealth (SEW) preservation motivates family firms to avoid taking risks, this effect has not been considered in immigrant-owned firms. Many of the same affinity factors are likely to influence the survival of both ownership types, but we argue that immigrant-owned firms may experience them more strongly as they reside at the intersection of the liabilities of smallness and foreignness. Drawing on a large sample of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ecuador, we find that immigrant-owned firms have higher survival odds compared to family-owned firms. By demonstrating the combinative effects of SEW and social “out-group” identities of immigrant owners on small firm survival, our findings contribute to the SME, immigrant entrepreneurship, and family business literatures.