Efectos del control familiar en el nivel y tipo de diversificación: evidencias empíricas para los grupos empresariales españoles

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of family character on the level and type of diversification, additionally considering the effect of ownership concentration that exists in family business. The study uses a sample of 99 listed companies, parent companies of business groups, with business group being considered as the unit of analysis (parent company and subsidiaries firms). The results show that family groups have lower average levels of total diversification and unrelated diversification, and they show the negative influence of family character in unrelated diversification level. The existence of a nonlinear U-shaped relationship between the level of diversification (total and unrelated) and the ownership concentration in family group is also observed, thus confirming a different behavior depending on the capital held by the main shareholders. The results obtained provide new evidence for the academic literature on family firms and business groups, as well as on the diversification strategies adopted by the family groups.