Family businesses and businesses as family

Elena Sischarenco

Chapter 4 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Economic Anthropology, 2025, pp 231-235 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter challenges the traditional view that the economic sphere operates separately from familial or social ties. Instead, it highlights how family businesses thrive and play a foundational role in Western economies, where family-owned firms contribute significantly to the GDP. By examining the interplay of family, culture, and capitalism across diverse global contexts, this chapter questions the Western dichotomy of rational economic action versus affective kinship, showing how closely economic activities are woven into social life. Ethnographic studies, which explore the influence of culture and history on capitalism, help uncover these links. In Italy, business owners often perceive their companies as extensions of the family, and even non-family-owned companies frequently adopt family-like values, reinforcing the enduring connection between social and economic structures. Using Italy as a case study, I illustrate how personal relations profoundly shape economic behaviour, disrupting binary models that oppose economic rationality and the affective sphere.

Keywords: Family businesses; Kinship; Economic rationality; Capitalism; Culture; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035312566
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