“Does ownership influence firms' performance? The differences between family and non-family businesses in the Italian landscape”

The following thesis examines a sample of 100 Italian companies over a 10-year period to test the hypothesis that family ownership has a positive effect on performance and M&A operations. The current literature on family businesses is fairly well developed, but this research has sought to go further, analyzing both how and to what extent Italian family businesses outperform their non-family owned competitors and their ability to pursue profitable acquisitions. The results obtained confirm the initial hypothesis and show how the positive correlation between ownership concentration, superior performance, and value-added M&A activities is valid in the Italian landscape.