Engaging in a New Field: Business-Owning Families’ Differential Approach to Impact Investing

Cristina Cruz; Rachida Justo; Jeanne Roche

doi:10.24310/ejfbejfb.v11i1.12626

Authors

Cristina Cruz IE Business School, Spain Spain
Rachida Justo IE Business School, Spain Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2393-2786
Jeanne Roche IE Business School, Spain Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/ejfbejfb.v11i1.12626

Keywords:

Business-owning Family, Impact Investing, Venturing Philanhropy, Socio-emotional Wealth, Reference Point

Agencies: No

Abstract

We develop a theoretical framework explaining why and how business-owning families engage in impact investing. Despite its exponential growth, the burgeoning field of impact investing is still subject to competing interpretations and varying practices. Building on the framework proposed by Nason et al. (2019b), we argue that a business-owning families’s frame of reference (backward vs. forward-looking and internally vs. externally oriented) constitutes a relevant heterogeneity that triggers a unique driver for engaging in impact investing and a distinct set of practices to do so.

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