Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

HUI Working Papers,
HUI Research

No 135: The Characteristics of Family Firms: Exploiting Information on Ownership, Kinship and Governance Using Total Population Data

Fredrik W. Andersson, Dan Johansson, Johan Karlsson (), Magnus Lodefalk and Andreas Poldahl
Additional contact information
Fredrik W. Andersson: Statistics Sweden, Postal: SE-70189 Örebro, Sweden,
Dan Johansson: HUI Research, Postal: SE- 103 29 Stockholm, Sweden and Örebro University, School of Business, SE-70182, Sweden
Johan Karlsson: Örebro University, Postal: School of Business, SE-70182, Sweden
Magnus Lodefalk: Örebro University, Postal: School of Business, SE-70182, Sweden and The Ratio Institute, SE-103 64, Stockholm, Sweden
Andreas Poldahl: Statistics Sweden, Postal: SE - 701 89 Örebro, Sweden,

Abstract: Family firms are often considered characteristically different from non-family firms. However, our understanding of family firms suffers from an inability to identify them in total population data; information is rarely available regarding owners, their kinship and their involvement in firm governance. We present a method for identifying domiciled family firms using register data; this method offers greater accuracy than previous methods. We apply this method to Swedish data concerning firm ownership, governance and kinship from 2004 to 2010. We find that the family firm is a significant organizational form, contributing over one-third of all employment and gross domestic product (GDP). Family firms are common in most industries and range in size. Furthermore, we find that, compared to private non-family firms, family firms have fewer total assets, employment and sales and carry higher solidity, although family firms are more profitable. These differences diminish with firm size. We conclude that the term “family firm” includes a large variety of firms, and we call for increased attention to their heterogeneity.

Keywords: entrepreneur; family firms; employment; GDP; register data

JEL-codes: D22; G38; H32; L22; L25; L26; L53

37 pages, May 12, 2018

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