Title: Double jeopardy: striving for dual legitimacy in Russian family firms

Authors: Alexander Lascaux; Irina Kolesnikova; Veronika Kotsoyeva

Addresses: IBS, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy, 84 Vernadskogo prosp., Moscow, 115971, Russia ' IBS, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy, 84 Vernadskogo prosp., Moscow, 115971, Russia ' IBS, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy, 84 Vernadskogo prosp., Moscow, 115971, Russia

Abstract: Family firms' long-term capacity to survive and grow is premised on their legitimacy in the eyes of principal stakeholder groups. Drawing on the findings from the interviews with owners/managers of Russian family ventures, we suggest a multilevel concept of the family firm legitimation activities in adverse institutional settings. Due to a constellation of structural and cultural factors, family firms in Russia are simultaneously induced to achieve professional legitimacy in their relationships with immediate stakeholders and institutional legitimacy in their interactions with broader societal norms and beliefs. We extend the institutional theory of organisations by exploring a problem of dual legitimacy faced by family firms in a transition environment. We investigate the cross-level legitimation effects arising at the intersection of the professional and institutional dimensions of legitimacy-seeking activities. We isolate a number of generic strategies employed by Russian family firms to earn professional and institutional legitimacy.

Keywords: family firms; legitimacy; legitimation; Russia; transition economy; institutional theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2021.114285

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2021 Vol.13 No.1, pp.88 - 111

Received: 20 Mar 2019
Accepted: 31 Mar 2020
Published online: 15 Apr 2021 *

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