The Effect of Family Ownership on Performance of Listed Firms in Tehran Stock Market

The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of family ownership on theperformance of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2007-2011. In this study, thefamily ownership as the independent variable and its effect on return on assets as the firmperformance criterion has been studied. Family companies in the research refers to those companiesthat at least 20% of their shares individually or in group belongs to the members of the board ofdirectors or the executive manager of the company and is actively participating in board ofdirectors’ activities. The results of the analysis of 95 companies during 2010-2015 show that familyownership has a direct and positive effect on performance of firms (Return on Assets) and thefamily ownership of 50% and above has a direct and significant effect on the performance of firmsand for the lower levels the effect is not significant. Moreover, it was indicated that as the familyownership increases, the intensity of its effect on the firms performance increases, too Familyownership has a direct and positive effect on firms’ performance (ROA).

Keywords:

Ownership structure , Family ownership , Return on assets