Independent directors and family firm performance: does one size fit all?

How will the presence of independent directors affect family business performance? This question is still theoretically debated and empirically inconclusive. Because family businesses are a group of heterogeneous companies with different levels of family involvement in the business, the purpose of this paper is to empirically explore how the combination of different family business governance structures jointly shape the effect of independent directors on family business performance in an understudied Collectivist cultural setting. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) on a sample of 74 Lebanese family firms this study finds that, depending on the family firm governance structure, the presence of independent directors on the board can lead to either positive or negative firm performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.