Exploring the effect of family control on the characteristics of SMEs in Northern Italy

We studied the effect of family control on the characteristics of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises located in the Northern Italian province of Bergamo. The analysis included aspects such as demographic characteristics, cost and productivity of labour, financial ratios, and the performance of 745 SMEs. Family-controlled firms emerged as a predominant organizational type in almost all the industries and a number of relevant differences were found between family‐controlled and non‐family firms. In sum, family-controlled firms in our sample outperformed their non-family counterparts in terms of return on sales, return on equity and return on assets