Abstract—Family businesses are generally considered to be more profitable than nonfamily businesses. At the same time, couple-run companies controlled or managed by husband and wife are often excluded from the studies since they do not fulfill the basic attribute of family businesses–the intention for succession. However, they are supposed to have certain similar properties. In this study we tested the performance gaps between couple-run and professionally managed companies in the Czech Republic using the matched-pair investigation. The sample was composed of 130 pairs of companies in the period 2007-2012. Using Student paired t-test, we determined the differences in return on assets, return on equity, return on sales, return on capital employed, and levels of earnings. In most of the observations, the median and averages are higher in the case of couple-run companies; however, they are statistically significant only in a few cases. The results suggest that couple-run companies could have some positive benefits similar to those of family businesses.

Index Terms—couple-run companies, copreneurship, profitability, return, performance gaps, family business

Cite: Ondřej Machek, Daniela Kolouchová, and Jiří Hnilica, "The Impact of Spousal Relationship on Profitability: A Matched-Pair Investigation of Copreneurial Firms," Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 245-249, May 2016. doi: 10.12720/joams.4.3.245-249