| Popis: |
The aim of this chapter is to provide preliminary empirical evidence about the prevalence of family firms across European regions and the two-way relationship between them and the regional context. Using a firm-level dataset for seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), we find that while the prevalence of family firms is high in the manufacturing sector, they are unevenly distributed across European regions. Second, we do not find full support for the argument that family firms are overrepresented in regions with low-quality institutions. Finally, we find that the aggregate relationship between family firms and regional competitiveness (i.e., productivity, exports, and innovation) varies across regions within each analysed country. Our study raises new research questions that future scholars should investigate: (1) Why are family firms unevenly distributed across regions and to what extent is this uneven distribution related to the territories in which family firms dwell? (2) Whether, how, and when does the presence of family firms affect regional competitiveness? |
