Community Socioemotional Wealth: Preservation, Succession, and Farming in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Abstract

This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.