The Impact of Family Influence on Firm Performance: Evidence from European listed companies

The research aims to establish a connection between family influence and financial performance of firms. The focus was directed on the largest European firms listed on the stock market, measuring performance through Tobin's Q, Return on Assets, and Return on Equity. Corporate governance foundations are thoroughly explored, with the Agency Theory being the main theorical framework integrated into the analysis. The study recurs to univariate and multivariate analysis through a Pooled OLS estimation on panel data from 140 family-influenced and non-family-influenced European listed companies from 2011 to 2021. The findings reveal that family-influenced firms outperform non-family-influenced ones when Tobin's Q is considered. The results also suggests that family influence adversely impacts the financial performance of Utilities, Services and Trade Industry businesses.