What type of firms are more likely to survive or even thrive in disaster events such as earthquakes, wildfires, and the COVID‐19 pandemic? We investigate whether family ownership and industry positioning affect firms' ability to capture opportunities for business recovery after a natural disaster. We analyze the performance of Italian family and nonfamily firms around a disastrous earthquake in 2009. Following the earthquake, family firms performed better than nonfamily firms, especially when multiple family members were involved as owners. Moreover, family ownership is beneficial in industries highly dependent on the public sector. Our findings provide evidence on the superior resilience of family firms by illustrating the characteristics that allow firms hit by disaster events to seize posttraumatic entrepreneurial opportunities for recovery and growth.

中文翻译：

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自然灾害是创业机会的来源：地震后的家族企业韧性

哪种类型的公司更有可能在地震，野火和COVID-19大流行等灾难事件中生存甚至繁荣发展？我们调查家族所有权和行业定位是否会影响公司在自然灾害后捕捉业务复苏机会的能力。我们分析了2009年灾难性地震后意大利家族企业和非家族企业的表现。地震后，家族企业的表现要优于非家族企业，尤其是当多个家族成员作为所有者参与时。此外，家庭所有权在高度依赖公共部门的行业中是有益的。