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Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Morten Bennedsen
  • Kasper M. Nielsen
  • Francisco Pérez-González
  • Daniel Wolfenzon

Abstract

This paper uses a unique dataset from Denmark to investigate the impact of family characteristics in corporate decision making and the consequences of these decisions on firm performance. We focus on the decision to appoint either a family or external chief executive officer (CEO). The paper uses variation in CEO succession decisions that result from the gender of a departing CEO's firstborn child. This is a plausible instrumental variable (IV), as male first-child firms are more likely to pass on control to a family CEO than are female first-child firms, but the gender of the first child is unlikely to affect firms' outcomes. We find that family successions have a large negative causal impact on firm performance: operating profitability on assets falls by at least four percentage points around CEO transitions. Our IV estimates are significantly larger than those obtained using ordinary least squares. Furthermore, we show that family-CEO underperformance is particularly large in fast-growing industries, industries with highly skilled labor force and relatively large firms. Overall, our empirical results demonstrate that professional, non-family CEOs provide extremely valuable services to the organizations they head.

Suggested Citation

  • Morten Bennedsen & Kasper M. Nielsen & Francisco Pérez-González & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2006. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," NBER Working Papers 12356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12356
    Note: CF
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    Cited by:

    1. Bjuggren, Per-Olof & Duggal, Rubecca & Giang, Dinh Tung, 2011. "Ownership Dispersion and Capital Structures in Family firms: A study of closed medium sized enterprises," Ratio Working Papers 175, The Ratio Institute.
    2. Parker, Simon C. & van Praag, Mirjam C., 2006. "The Entrepreneur's Mode of Entry: Business Takeover or New Venture Start," IZA Discussion Papers 2382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Schneider, Cédric, 2007. "The Determinants of Patent Applications Outcomes - Does Experience Matter?," MPRA Paper 3359, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    5. Ernesto Dal Bó & Pedro Dal Bó & Jason Snyder, 2009. "Political Dynasties," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(1), pages 115-142.
    6. Fei Ge & Peipei Wu & Yun Feng & Lu Gao, 2023. "Do enterprises with foreign direct investments in tax havens prefer charitable donations? Evidence from China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(5), pages 2056-2076, November.
    7. Hongbin Cai & Hongbin Li & Albert Park & Li-An Zhou, 2013. "Family Ties and Organizational Design: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 850-867, July.
    8. Meier, Olivier & Schier, Guillaume, 2014. "Family firm succession: Lessons from failures in external party takeovers," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 372-383.
    9. Hvide, Hans K. & Møen, Jarle, 2007. "Liquidity Constraints and Entrepreneurial Performance," Discussion Papers 2007/21, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    10. Houben, Henriette & Maiterth, Ralf, 2009. "Zurück zum Zehnten: Modelle für die nächste Erbschaftsteuerreform," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 69, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    11. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2010. "Agency Problems and the Fate of Capitalism," NBER Working Papers 16490, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. [multiple or corporate authorship]., 2006. "Inherited Family Firms and Management Practices: The Case for Modernising the UK's Inheritance Tax," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57990, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Antonio Pedro Soares Pinto & Mario Gomes Augusto, 2014. "Are There Non-linear Effects of Banking Relationships and Ownership Concentration on Operational Performance? Empirical Evidence from Portuguese SMEs Using Cross-section Analysis and Panel Data," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(4), pages 67-84, October.
    14. Luc Laeven & Ross Levine, 2008. "Complex Ownership Structures and Corporate Valuations," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 579-604, April.
    15. Jennifer Gippel & Tom Smith & Yushu Zhu, 2015. "Endogeneity in Accounting and Finance Research: Natural Experiments as a State-of-the-Art Solution," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 51(2), pages 143-168, June.
    16. Sławomir Dorocki & Anna Irena Szymańska & Małgorzata Zdon-Korzeniowska, 2015. "Family Agritourist Enterprises in Poland: Preliminary Survey Results," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 3(1), pages 151-163.
    17. Geraldine Ryan & Bernadette Power & Noreen McCarthy & Paul Braidford, 2011. "Regional Influences of Business Transfers within the British Isles," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1094, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Feifei Lu & Ho Kwong Kwan & Bin Ma, 2022. "Carry the past into the future: the effects of CEO temporal focus on succession planning in family firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 763-804, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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