Vol.:(0123456789) Review of Managerial Science https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-019-00350-7 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER The influence of family involvement and generational stage on learning‑by‑exporting among family firms Gregorio Sánchez‑Marín 1  · María Pemartín 1  · Joaquín Monreal‑Pérez 1 Received: 13 December 2018 / Accepted: 27 August 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract This paper explores the link between export activity and product innovation in fam- ily firms. Following the learning-by-exporting (LBE) hypothesis and considering that family firms are not homogeneous entities, we examine differences among fam- ily firms with regard to the influence of export activity on product innovation, based on the degree of family involvement in management and on the generational stage. Based on a sample of 7742 observations corresponding to over 770 family firms operating in 20 different manufacturing industries in the period 2007–2016, empiri- cal findings point to significant differences between family firms in terms of con- verting the benefits of exporting into product innovation. A greater level of family involvement in management fosters the LBE effect on product innovation through an inverted U-shaped pattern, which reaches a peak when there are 2.45 family mem- bers involved in managing the company. Contrary to expectations, results also show a positive influence of first-generation family firms on the LBE effect on product innovation. Keywords Learning-by-exporting · Product innovation · Ability versus willingness · Family firm · Family involvement in management · Family generation · Panel data methodology Mathematics Subject Classification 90B50 * Gregorio Sánchez-Marín gresanma@um.es María Pemartín pemartin@um.es Joaquín Monreal-Pérez jomonreal@um.es 1 Management and Finance Department, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain