arbiter
JournalsAccount

A Bird’s-Eye View on Family Business Succession: Ownership Transfer Regimes and How They Change

Isabell Stamm & Allan Sandham

Family Business Review2026https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865251393305article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Intra-family succession is at the heart of what makes family business unique. To explain why businesses are (not) transferred within the family, this article adopts a macroperspective, viewing succession as a specific transfer regime. Portraying the case of Germany since the 1990s, we show how this transfer regime has been changed. Using document analysis and expert interviews, we show when, how, and why the configuration of the intra-family succession regime was altered and an “exit regime” emerged. In this new regime, the family as owner is problematized, and ownership transfer is coordinated through matchmaking, which increases the importance of business intermediaries.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865251393305

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{isabell2026,
  title        = {{A Bird’s-Eye View on Family Business Succession: Ownership Transfer Regimes and How They Change}},
  author       = {Isabell Stamm & Allan Sandham},
  journal      = {Family Business Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865251393305},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

A Bird’s-Eye View on Family Business Succession: Ownership Transfer Regimes and How They Change

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.