Can old dogs play new tricks in family firms?

Abstract

By combining the social exchange and stakeholder theories, we focus on employees older than 50 as a strategic resource in family firms. Specifically, we study the relationship between such employees and firm innovation and the potential moderating role of work-life balance practices. We find a negative relationship between the ratio of older workers and the level of firm innovation in both family and non-family firms. However, in family firms, the more work away from office is used, the stronger and positive the relationship between the level of firm innovation and the percentage of older employees is.