We study successions from a non-family CEO back to a family CEO, which we label “Type-R" successions. In our sample of 489 Italian family firms experiencing the departure of non-family CEOs, these successions represent 42% of all cases. Our difference-in-differences results indicate that family firms undertaking Type-R successions experience an 18% superiority in profitability. Exploring the heterogeneity underlying this result, we find that Type-R successions produce weaker results in contexts that are highly volatile and that rely on innovative inputs before succession. Finally, in studying the drivers of the performance increase, we find that Type-R successions reduce labor costs and spur efficiency. Collectively, our evidence suggests that Type-R successions improve performance by leveraging family assets while avoiding dysfunctional nepotism and other parochial family priorities.

中文翻译：

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回到未来：回归家族继承对企业绩效的影响

我们研究了从非家族 CEO 到家族 CEO 的继任，我们将其标记为“R 型”继任。在我们的 489 家经历非家族 CEO 离职的意大利家族企业的样本中，这些继任占所有案例的 42% . 我们的差值结果表明，进行 R 型继承的家族企业在盈利能力方面具有 18% 的优势。探索这一结果背后的异质性，我们发现 R 型继承在高度波动的环境中产生较弱的结果，并且在继任之前依靠创新投入。最后，在研究绩效增长的驱动因素时，我们发现Type-R继任降低了劳动力成本并提高了效率。总的来说，我们的证据表明，R 型继承通过利用家庭资产来提高绩效，同时避免功能失调的裙带关系和其他狭隘的家庭优先事项。