Family Firms and the Decision to Go Public: A Study of Italian Ipos

21 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2001

See all articles by Davide Ravasi

Davide Ravasi

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology; SDA Bocconi

Gaia Marchisio

SDA Bocconi

Date Written: March 2001

Abstract

Past studies on public equity capital options concentrated on the financial or the institutional side of the process. The finance literature considered going public mainly as a way to access new sources of funds and to decrease the cost of capital. Within the family business field, most scholars focused on the benefits of going public for family succession and the survival of the firm after the founder. Although some scholars suggest that going public may have also an important strategic rationale, the hypothesis has not been subject to extensive empirical research. In this paper, combining evidence from a comparative case study and an extensive survey of recent Italian IPOs, we investigate the consequences of going public for the capacity of the companies to build and sustain competitive advantage, through an increase in their reputational and social capital.

Keywords: Family Business, Going public, IPO, Reputational Capital, Social capital

JEL Classification: M13

Suggested Citation

Ravasi, Davide and Ravasi, Davide and Marchisio, Gaia, Family Firms and the Decision to Go Public: A Study of Italian Ipos (March 2001). SDA BOCCONI, Research Division Working Paper No. 01-45, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=278237 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.278237

Davide Ravasi (Contact Author)

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

SDA Bocconi ( email )

Via Bocconi 8
Milan, Milan 20136
Italy

Gaia Marchisio

SDA Bocconi ( email )

Via Bocconi 8
Milan, Milan 20136
Italy
+39-02-5836.6224 (Phone)
+39-02-5836.6892 (Fax)

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