Family firms and international involvement in the Italian wine industry

In this study, I explore under which conditions family firms outperform non-family firms by testing the hypothesis on a sample of Italian wine companies. Many studies have confirmed empirically the negative relationship between family ownership and international involvement. However, there is still no clear consensus since few studies show a positive relationship between family ownership and international involvement. Then, exploiting a sample of 345 Italian wine firms, I argue that family firms selling niche products may be superior with respect to international involvement than other types of firms as they provide better after sales services and benefit from a strong reputation, strong brand image and close relationship with customers. My finals results prove that Family firms tend more to export than No- family firms. In addition I have analysed witch firm’s features (firm’s size, quality and firm’s age) contribute to outperform in the foreign markets. Key Words: Family firms, ownership, wine export, Italian wine industry