DP14759 Family Ownership During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Author(s): | Mario Daniele Amore, Valerio Pelucco, Fabio Quarato |
Publication Date: | May 2020 |
Keyword(s): | CEOs, COVID-19, Family Business, Financial Performance |
JEL(s): | D10, G34 |
Programme Areas: | Financial Economics, Industrial Organization |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14759 |
Prompted by the shakeup of Covid-19 on financial markets, scholars have begun to explore the corporate traits that can make firms more resilient to a pandemic. In this paper, we test how the involvement of families in ownership and governance positions influences the financial performance of Italian listed firms during the spread of Covid-19. Our results indicate that firms with controlling family shareholders fared significantly better than other firms in the pandemic period. This effect is particularly pronounced among firms in which a family is both the controlling shareholder and holds the CEO position. Collectively, our results expand existing knowledge on the determinants of organizational resilience in the wake of adverse events.