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A bitter adjustment for German family capitalism: Succession and a changing ownership transfer regime

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  • Stamm, Isabell
  • Sandham, Allan

Abstract

Germany is known for its family-owned businesses that transfer ownership across generations. However, business owners in Germany increasingly envision selling their business beyond the family, which fundamentally changes the institutionalized way private ownership of businesses is transferred. In this paper, we analyze and explain this fundamental change in German family capitalism since the 1990s. Drawing on a sociology of ownership, we view family succession as a transfer regime and show how this regime has been problematized and gradually reframed. Based on analysis of a rich corpus of documents, archival materials, and twenty-seven expert interviews, we show how a new transfer regime - the exit regime - emerges, which coordinates ownership transfer among founders through matchmaking. Our study contributes to research on family capitalism and succession by demonstrating how family capital moves toward the financial sector without becoming financial capital as it loses the family and gains the founder as personalized points of reference.

Suggested Citation

  • Stamm, Isabell & Sandham, Allan, 2023. "A bitter adjustment for German family capitalism: Succession and a changing ownership transfer regime," MPIfG Discussion Paper 23/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:281201
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Long, Rebecca G. & Mathews, K. Michael, 2011. "Ethics in the Family Firm: Cohesion through Reciprocity and Exchange," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 287-308, April.
    4. Richard Swedberg, 2007. "Introduction to Principles of Economic Sociology," Introductory Chapters, in: Principles of Economic Sociology, Princeton University Press.
    5. Wendy C. Handler, 1990. "Succession in Family Firms: A Mutual Role Adjustment between Entrepreneur and Next-generation Family Members," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 15(1), pages 37-52, October.
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    Keywords

    capitalism; family; ownership; regime change; succession; Eigentum; Familie; Kapitalismus; Nachfolge; Regimewandel;
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