Family Firms, Corporate Governance and Export

This paper investigates the effects of family ownership on export using rich data on Italian firms. We find that family ownership increases the probability that firms export. This benefit is especially pronounced when family owners retain control rights and seek the support of external managers. The results suggest that families better internalize the long-run benefits of internationalization, but that their limited competencies attenuate this benefit in high-tech industries and in remote and unfamiliar export markets. Family firms also exhibit some tendency to enter foreign markets in a progressive way (sequential exporting) and through limited collaborations with foreign firms and intermediaries.