The practice of adopting adults, even if one has biological children, makes Japanese family firms unusually competitive …. Our nearly population-wide panel of postwar listed non-financial firms shows inherited family firms more important in … outperform non-family firms. Using family structure variables as instruments, we find adopted heirs “causing” elevated …

Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the 20th century, amid rapid catch …

Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the 20th century, amid rapid catch …

Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the 20th century, amid rapid catch …

Family firms depend on a succession of capable heirs to stay afloat. If talent and IQ are inherited, this problem is … mitigated. If, however, progeny talent and IQ display mean reversion (or worse), family firms are eventually doomed. This is the … essence of the critique of family firms in Burkart, Panunzi and Shleifer (2003). Since family firms persist, solutions to this …