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Dead Money: Inheritance Law and the Longevity of Family Firms

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  • Michael Carney
  • Eric Gedajlovic
  • Vanessa M. Strike

Abstract

“Dead money†refers to the potential for the division, reduction, and misallocation of family firm assets during intergenerational wealth transfers. We consider the effects of inheritance law provisions on property transfers and the potential impact on family firm vitality in four jurisdictions: Germany, France, Hong Kong SAR, and the United States. These jurisdictions have divergent legal origins and inheritance law regimes that generate distinct patterns of transformation and continuity in family firms. The contribution of the paper is to identify external institutional factors that determine the central tendencies on family firm longevity in a literature that has hitherto focused on internal factors such as the efficacy of adopting professional management and succession planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Carney & Eric Gedajlovic & Vanessa M. Strike, 2014. "Dead Money: Inheritance Law and the Longevity of Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1261-1283, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:38:y:2014:i:6:p:1261-1283
    DOI: 10.1111/etap.12123
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    3. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller & Lloyd P. Steier, 2018. "Governance Mechanisms and Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 171-186, March.
    4. Thomas Zellweger & Nadine Kammerlander, 2015. "Family, Wealth, and Governance: An Agency Account," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1281-1303, November.
    5. Lloyd P. Steier & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua, 2015. "Governance Challenges in Family Businesses and Business Families," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1265-1280, November.
    6. Inmaculada Aguiar-Diaz & María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorquí & Lourdes Trujillo, 2020. "Ownership structure and financial performance of Spanish port service companies," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 674-698, December.
    7. Jean–Luc Arregle & Patricio Duran & Michael A. Hitt & Marc van Essen, 2017. "Why is Family Firms’ Internationalization Unique? A Meta–Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(5), pages 801-831, September.
    8. Jon C. Carr & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2016. "Family Firm Challenges in Intergenerational Wealth Transfer," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(6), pages 1197-1208, November.
    9. Arteaga, R. & Menéndez-Requejo, S., 2017. "Family Constitution and Business Performance: Moderating Factors," MPRA Paper 120028, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gorji, Yasaman & Carney, Michael & Prakash, Rajshree, 2020. "Indirect nepotism: Network sponsorship, social capital and career performance in show business families," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3).
    11. Liu, Fangyi, 2021. "Family business succession roadblock model based on fuzzy linguistic preference relations," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    12. Maarten B.T. de Groot & Oli R. Mihalache & Tom Elfring, 2022. "Toward a Theory of Family Social Capital in Wealthy Transgenerational Enterprise Families," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 159-192, January.
    13. Hanqing “Chevy” Fang & Kulraj Singh & Taewoo Kim & Laura Marler & James J. Chrisman, 2022. "Family business research in Asia: review and future directions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1215-1256, December.
    14. Mike Wright & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2014. "Family Enterprise and Context," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1247-1260, November.
    15. Elena Rivo-López & Mónica Villanueva-Villar & Alberto Vaquero-García, 2016. "Family office: a new category in family business research?," Working Papers. Collection C: Family business 1601, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    16. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Julian Schenkenhofer, 2021. "A Context-Choice Model of Niche Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1276-1303, September.
    17. Thomas M. Zellweger & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2019. "Social Structures, Social Relationships, and Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 207-223, March.
    18. Bornhausen, Anna Maria, 2022. "Conceptualizing cross-country analyses of family firms: A systematic review and future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    19. Maria Boutchkova & Diego Cueto & Angelica Gonzalez, 2022. "Test power properties of within-firm estimators of ownership and board-related explanatory variables with low time variation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1215-1269, October.

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