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Italian Family Agreements And Business Continuity, Cinzia Vallone

Cinzia Vallone

Italian family firms comprise 80% of all business enterprises belonging to all economic sectors and their main distintive feature is the founder’s will to transfer ownership and management to the heirs so that family traditions are transmitted together with corporate values. Less than half of all family-owned firms, however, survive into the second generation and less than a fifth are still viable into the third generation. The risk of a failure in generational transitions is linked to many variables often operating jointly, as for example: - lack of a clear succession plan; - lack of agreement among stakeholders; - lack …