Welcome to the Chair for Family Business Culture and Ownership

The German economy and society are strongly influenced by family businesses and their owners.
According to estimates by the Family Firm Institute, family businesses provide more than half of the jobs in Germany. More than 50% of Germany’s economic power is generated by entrepreneurial families. However, family firms are not only a German phenomenon but constitute the most prevalent organizational form worldwide.

Given the dominance of family enterprises in economies around the globe, the EQUA Endowed Chair for family businesses culture and ownership teaches and researches about the uniqueness of family businesses and explores how they can promote positive societal development. Importantly, the Chair pays particular attention not only to the uniqueness of a family-infused business culture but also embeds these insights into regional and industry contexts.

With the EQUA Endowed Chair for family businesses, we explore the entrepreneurial and social aspirations of business families by examining their financial and non-financial goals, values, and socio-emotional wealth.

For more information on Prof. Melanie Richards and her team, please see here. More information concerning teaching and research can be found on the left menu. An overview of our latest news can be found here.