Abstract
We integrate the behavioral agency model with the mixed gamble view to study the importance of strategic market focus for family vs. nonfamily firms. Accordingly, we propose that negative performance gap changes how family vs. nonfamily firms view the mixed gamble of strategic market focus, thereby leading to different scale of strategic market focus over time. We also consider in our framework the role of market leadership, change in rivals’ speed and market contestability as boundary conditions in shaping family vs. nonfamily firms’ strategic market focus to different levels of negative performance gap. Our analysis of Spanish firms during 2002-2012 supports our theoretical framework.