Estrategias de diversificación en los grupos familiares y no familiares: principales diferencias según el tipo de grupo no familiar

Abstract

In the last decade, the interest for the study of ownership structure as a determinant of diversification arises. However, there is a lack of researches that analyze the influence of the nature of the ultimate owner in the level and type of diversification. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyze the diversification strategies used by the main Spanish business groups whose parent company is listed on the stock markets, and to study the differences between family and non-family business groups, considering in these last, the type of ultimate owner. In the study a sample of ninety-nine listed companies is used, where companies that constitute the business group are identified. In the paper are used as econometric methodologies the binomial logistic models and panel data models. The results show that family nature of business group positively influences in specialization and related diversification and negatively on unrelated diversification. Family groups differ most form those non-family groups where there is not a reference shareholder than can exercise effective control and ownership dispersion is higher, the groups referred as “non effective control”. The research allows further analysis of differences between family and non-family groups, considering the nature of the ultimate owner for non-family groups.