Psychological ownership, knowledge sharing and entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: The moderating role of governance heterogeneity

Adopting a stewardship perspective and relying on a sample of 93 Spanish family firms, we emphasize the importance of psychological ownership as a primary determinant of entrepreneurial orientation in terms of proactiveness, innovativeness and risk taking. We also suggest that the relationship between psychological ownership and entrepreneurial orientation is mediated by knowledge sharing. Finally, we assess the potential moderating roles of heterogenous governance conditions in terms of the generation in control, generational involvement and family involvement in the top management team with regard to the relationship between psychological ownership and knowledge sharing. Research and managerial implications are shared in the concluding section. •Family members' PO is a primary determinant of EO dimensions of proactiveness and innovativeness in family firms.•Adopting a stewardship perspective, the positive relationship between PO and EO is mediated by Knowledge Sharing.•The family generation in control and family involvement in the TMT moderate the relationship between PO and Knowledge Sharing.