Generational transfers in comparative perspective: The example of family business succession

Introduction
Private transfers between adult generations in the family are an important part of the intergenerational link in modern societies. The material flows between generations respond to support and security needs, but they may also reinforce inequality. Most of the work on intergenerational family transfers so far has been done in economics. It has pointed out the importance of inter vivos transfers and bequests for current wealth accumulation and wealth distribution as well as the role of the family as an agency of economic redistribution and security for its members. Current sociological research on intergenerational transfers has emphasized the mutual relationships between private and public transfers. In contrast to classical modernization theory, it has shown that the rise of the welfare state did not crowd out private support within families, but enabled the family in turn to provide new intergenerational support. Investigating family businesses adds yet another perspective to the discussion. The intergenerational transfer of company shares during the succession process in family businesses is simultaneously a means of private transfer within the family as well as a transformation in the ownership structure of the business. The transfer patterns in family businesses are embedded in institutional and cultural conditions of the respective welfare state, family regime, and form of capitalism. The configurations of family business succession as intergenerational transfer vary with legal obligations of intergenerational support, legal regulations and taxation of bequests or inheritance, relevant company policies, and changing traditions and values. For this reason the study of family succession is most promising in a comparative perspective.

Two questions arise: (1) How do succession processes and outcomes vary between different nation states in terms of the, patterns of opportunities, restraints and preferences, and of the behaviours that follow from them? (We will concentrate on Italy, Switzerland and Germany). (2) How may the analysis of family business succession in turn reveal more general features of intergenerational transfer processes?

PROGRAMM (Stand: 26.05.2009)

Sonntag, 21.06.2009
Ort: Hotel Schwanen, Seequai 1, CH-8640 Rapperswill

18:00
Literarischer Abend
Die Autorin Sybille Mulot liest aus ihrem Buch Die Fabrikanten. Roman einer Familie.
Moderation: Ulrike Vedder


Montag, 22.06.2009
Ort: Universität Zürich, Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät, RAI-G-041, Rämistr. 74, CH-8001 Zürich

09:30
Martin Kohli
Begrüßung und Einführung

09:45
Generationenbeziehungen aus der Perspektive der Familie

Patrick Heady (MPI für Ethnologische Forschung Halle)
State, Family and Community: Some implicit Contracts in European Family Life”

Sigrid Leitner (FH Köln)
Familialismus als Grundlage für unterschiedliche Praktiken des Generationentransfers

11:30
Generationenbeziehungen aus der Perspektive der Ökonomie

Richard Whitley (Manchester Business School)
The Business Systems Approach and its Perspective on Succession

Katharina Blum (Univ. Osnabrück) / Bernd Martens (Univ. Jena)
Vom Gründer zum Familienkapitalismus. Zur Stabilität traditioneller Formen der Unternehmensübergabe am ostdeutschen Beispiel


14:30
Generationenbeziehungen aus der Perspektive des (Familien- und Erb-)Rechts

Marc Szydlik (Univ. Zürich)
Patterns of inheritance in Europe

Peter Breitschmid (Univ. Zürich)
Aktuelle Entwicklungen von Erbrecht und Erbschaftssteuer in der Schweiz, Deutschland und Italien

16:15
Andrea Colli (Bocconi Univ. Milan)
The History of Family Businesses in Europe

17:00
Paneldiskussion: Gibt es unterschiedliche Transferregime in Europa?
Einleitung: Sigrid Weigel (ZfL Berlin) / Martin Kohli


Dienstag, 23.06.2009
Ort: Universität Zürich, Hauptgebäude, KOL-F-101, Rämistr. 71, CH-8006 Zürich

09:30
Peter Breitschmid
Begrüßung und Einführung

09:45
Die Übertragung von Eigentum in Familienunternehmen

Paul Eitel (Univ. Luzern)
Möglichkeiten des Eigentumstransfers in Familienunternehmen in der Schweiz

Andrea Fusaro (Univ. Genua)
Transferring Business Ownership in Italian Family Enterprises

Roland Krause (FU Berlin)
Verschenken, Vererben, Stiften – Ansätze zur Eigentumsübertragung in deutschen Familienunternehmen

11:30
Thomas Zellweger (Univ. St. Gallen)
The Emotional Value of Family Businesses

12:00
Urs Baumann / Urs Rickenbacher
Beispielfall: Lantal (Schweiz)

14:00
Versorgung von Familienmitgliedern und familiäre Solidarität

Ueli Kieser (Univ. Bern)
Wie können Familienunternehmer ihren Ruhestand finanzieren? – eine Analyse der rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen in der Schweiz

Brun Hagen-Hennerkes (Hennerkes, Kirchdörfer & Lorz)
Vorsorge für Familienunternehmer und Sicherung des Familienvermögens in Deutschland

Lorenzo Zanni (Univ. Siena)
Knowledge and Resource Provision for Managing Family Succession: Evidences in Italian Clusters

15:45
Isabell Stamm / Nicole Schmiade (FU Berlin)
Nachfolge als Übergang im Lebenslauf von Familienunternehmern

16:15
Stefan Roeckl
Beispielfall: Roeckl (Deutschland)

17:00
Schlussdiskussion