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Rationality and Society
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A Family Affair

Explaining Co-Working By Family Members

Esther de Ruijter

Arbeid Opleidingen Consult, Westermarkt 4a, 5042 MC Tilburg, The Netherlands, e.de.ruijter{at}aoconsult.nl

Tanja van der Lippe

ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Werner Raub

ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Jeroen Weesie

ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

This study focuses on co-working by intimate partners and other family members in entrepreneurs' businesses. We hypothesize that co-working by family is beneficial because it reduces trust problems associated with employment relations. On the other hand, co-working is risky because co-working family members may lose income from, and their investments in, the business in the case of bankruptcy or, specific to co-working partners, in the case of separation. Using data from the survey Households in the Netherlands 1995 ( N = 137 entrepreneurs), we find that more trust problems, indicated by monitoring problems and one-sided dependence, indeed increase co-working by partners and family. Monitoring problems influence co-working by partners, while one-sided dependence influences co-working by family members. We also find that married partners are more likely to co-work than cohabiting partners. Bankruptcy risks are associated with the likelihood of co-working, although the direction of causality remains unclear for the effects of bankruptcy risks.

Key Words: trust problems • transaction costs • co-working • family

Rationality and Society, Vol. 20, No. 2, 203-226 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1043463108089545
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