This book analyzes the impacts that family control of firms has on capital structure choices
leverage and the risk of financial distress earnings management practices and the relation
between accounting choices and firm market value. For these purposes longitudinal data on
Italian family and non-family non-financial firms are closely analyzed. The Italian setting is
of special interest in this context because family businesses account for 94% of GDP families
are particularly committed to maintaining control of firms and the economy is bank based
rather than market based. The analyses draw on the socioemotional wealth approach which
emphasizes the importance of the stock of emotional value in family firms in combination with
financial theories such as Pecking Order Theory Trade-off Theory and Agency Theory. The
findings cast significant new light on differences between family and non-family firms and the
effects of different forms of family influence. The book will have broad appeal for academics
managers practitioners and policymakers.
