This paper analyzes how founders and their families influence R&D intensity. Information on R&D comes from a large-scale, bi-annual survey among listed German firms. We find that R&D intensity is higher in firms that are actively managed by the family. The impact of family control (via voting...

We examine the effects of family firms on real earnings management (REM) and accrual-based earnings management (ABEM). Using socioemotional wealth as a theoretical framework and considering the different implications of REM and ABEM on family firms' transgenerational sustainability, we...

We examine ownership dynamics in listed founding-family firms over the period 1996–2008. In order to enlarge the understanding of persistence of ownership influence, we analyze determinants of change in the light of family-firm heterogeneity. We detect ownership decreases and increases, alike....

Based on 1182 dyads of venture capitalists and German portfolio companies involved in a financing round between 2002 and 2007, the study here examines the importance of spatial proximity between investors and investees in a dense economy. Analysis of this data shows that the probability of a...

Trotz ihrer herausragenden Bedeutung für die Volkswirtschaft ist über das Finanzierungsverhalten von Familienunternehmen und ihre unternehmerischen Entscheidungen bisher wenig bekannt. Markus Ampenberger analysiert für den deutschen Kapitalmarkt, inwiefern sich börsennotierte...

We propose a novel approach to measure the value that shareholders assign to financial flexibility. In contrast to existing proxies for financial constraints, our measure is market-based, forward-looking and not directly influenced by past financial decisions. We find that firms for which...

We examine whether cultural differences between countries help in explaining firms' hedging decisions. For this, we manually collect data on the hedging behavior of worldwide energy utilities. The analysis reveals a strong impact of a country's long-term orientation, which reduces the...

In this paper, I analyze the motives moving founders and their families to influence the capital structure decision. For this, I complement detailed corporate governance information for Germany with data from other countries. The results for the German bank-based financial system contradict...