Does family control affect trade performance?: evidence for Italian firms

Giorgio Barba Navaretti (), Riccardo Faini and Alessandra Tucci

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper examines whether the export decision of firms is affected by their ownership structure, specifically it looks at whether family control is an obstacle to entering foreign markets. The underlying assumption is that family firms are risk averse. Risk aversion may be an obstacle to entering foreign markets, as far as these are perceived as more volatile and risky than the domestic one, particularly when such choice entices bearing relatively high sunk costs. We develop an illustrative theoretical model that shows how the combination between high risk aversion and low initial productivity may hinder family firms’ decision to enter foreign markets, particularly distant ones. The empirical analysis, based on a detailed panel data set of Italian firms covering the years from 1995 to 2003, confirms such predictions by showing that family controlled firms do indeed export less than other type of companies even after controlling for firm heterogeneity in productivity, size, technology and access to credit.

Keywords: firm structure; foreign markets; family firms; exports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F1 F14 L2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2008-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/28509/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Does Family Control Affect Trade Performance? Evidence for Italian Firms (2008)
Working Paper: Does Family Control Affect Trade Performance? Evidence for Italian Firms (2008)
Working Paper: Does Family Control Affect Trade Performance? Evidence for Italian Firms (2008)
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