Family Businesses in Transition Economies

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Léo-Paul Dana • Veland Ramadani

Editors

Family Businesses inTransition Economies

Management, Successionand Internationalization

EditorsLéo-Paul DanaMontpellier Business SchoolMontpellierFrance

Veland RamadaniSouth-East European UniversityTetovoMacedonia

ISBN 978-3-319-14208-1 ISBN 978-3-319-14209-8 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-14209-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935332

Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or partof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformation storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developed.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in thispublication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exemptfrom the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this bookare believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or theeditors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errorsor omissions that may have been made.

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To my late father Albert and my motherClemy, gone with the earthquake of 2011

Léo-Paul Dana

To my father Ismet and my late motherMijasere, whom I miss more and moreeveryday

Veland Ramadani

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Foreword

In many ways, this is a remarkable volume. Prior to the collapse of the former

Soviet Union, few would have predicted that a topic which has been mainstream in

the small business literature for many years would be extended into countries

which, prior to 1990, largely viewed private enterprise as an illegal activity.

Now, some 25 years after the start of the reform process, we are presented with a

volume which examines family business in a different context to that which most of

the family business literature addresses.

An emergent literature on family business in transition economies has increas-

ingly become a regular theme in conferences targeted at entrepreneurship scholars

from Central and Eastern Europe and countries further East. Many of the issues

discussed in these sessions do not appear to be significantly different from those we

are familiar with in contemporary family business literature. At the same time, as

some of the papers in this volume demonstrate, there are distinctive features. This is

to be expected as private business is extended into new conditions. Indeed many

argue that this process is an important one for the field in general and not just for

researchers specializing in transition and emerging market economies. This is

because the concepts and theories used in the field should be robust enough to be

applied in a variety of contexts and not just those pertaining in mature market

economies on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The call for more attention to context has been made by a number of scholars

recently, of which Friederike Welter is among the most prominent with her seminal

paper on context (Welter, 2011). This growing emphasis on context is important. In

the past, the field has arguably often divorced organizations from their contexts or

external environment, when clearly balance requires a degree of both. As a result,

this volume represents an important addition to the family business literature by

emphasizing how, in many ways, family influences cut across cultural, economic,

and social boundaries. At the same time, they show certain distinctive features,

which are a result of the development path followed by these former centrally

planned economies.

A growing recognition of the role of family businesses is an integral part of the

study of the growth of private enterprise in Central and Eastern Europe. Now, these

vii

former socialist economies, with their growing family business sector, are facing

the kind of succession issues which are well familiar in the West. At the same time,

distinctive features are associated with the specific conditions pertaining during the

transition period. In some of these transition countries, private enterprise was

tolerated, even during the Soviet period. This tended not to apply in the former

Soviet Republics but in some of the Central and East European countries; Poland is

an example. In Poland, during Soviet times, some very small micro enterprises were

tolerated in sectors such as food processing, wood and furniture products, clothing,

and general engineering.

These private firms were considered as craft-based enterprises during Soviet

times. The labeling is important because craft firms were considered to be politi-

cally acceptable during the Stalinist period and may, therefore, be considered an

integral part of the context of entrepreneurship in those countries where they were

allowed to exist. In other words, the term “craft” was interpreted to include some

small manufacturing firms that were relatively modern and well equipped and

which became a foundation for the development of manufacturing and construction

companies during the transformation period. Family ownership was a key feature of

these craft-based micro enterprises.

So, to summarize, the emergence of family business sector in these former

socialist countries may be viewed as an integral part of the transformation from

central planning to a private enterprise-based economy. This change, which took

place over a relatively short period of time, represents a specific context for the

development of family businesses.

London, UK David Smallbone

October 18, 2014

Reference

Welter, F. (2011). Contextualising entrepreneurship—conceptual challenges and ways forward.

Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 35(1), 165–184.

viii Foreword

Foreword

In recent years, family businesses in transition economies have drawn immense

attention among scholars, in which the transition process has resulted in deep and

remarkable changes to the economic, political, and social life (Aidis, Welter,

Smallbone, & Isakova, 2007; Dana & Dana, 2003; McKibbin & Pistrui, 1997;

Ramadani & Dana, 2013; Ramadani & Schneider, 2013). Anyone interested in

transition economies needs to focus much of their attention on family firms. Family

firms are extremely prevalent in transition economies; for example, in Asia, more

than 70 % of businesses are family owned (Fan, n.d.); it is estimated that 70 % of all

Hungarian businesses are family ones and bulk of them are SMEs owned by the first

generation (Kadocsa, 2003); in Slovenia, it is estimated that the share of family

businesses among small and medium-sized businesses is between 41.11 and

51.79 % (Duh & Belak, 2008); in Croatia, many of businesses are family ones

(Galetić, 2002); further, in Czech Republic 80–95 % of SMEs, in Latvia 30 % of

SMEs with fewer than 50 employees, in Romania more than half of the SMEs, in

Lithuania 92.3 % of SMEs, in Slovak Republic 80–95 %, etc. (Mandl, 2008).

I was therefore very pleased to have the opportunity to see a new book focused

on “Family Businesses in Transition Economies,” edited by Léo-Paul Dana and

Veland Ramadani. This book presents a state-of-the-art work and I am delighted to

have been invited to write the foreword of it. The editors have done an excellent job

in assembling an important set of research papers on family firms.

Family firms give rise to a number of research questions that are of upmost

importance in transition economies for understanding their prevalence, structure,

governance, and performance. In emerging and transition economies, typically

there are weak protections for minority shareholders, which gives rise to exacer-

bated agency problems in firm ownership structures (Claessens, Djankov, Fan, &

Lang, 2002; Dana, 2010). Moreover, in less well-developed capital markets, there

are constraints in terms of the market for professional CEOs. There are pronounced

succession problems among family firms (Caselli & Gennaioli, 2011). Succession

has been particularly problematic in countries like China due to governmental rules

pertaining to the one-child policy (Cao, Cumming, & Wang, 2014; Kamei & Dana,

2012). Issues in succession are particularly important, since ineffective succession

ix

gives rise to problems in productivity (Bennedsen, Nielsen, Pérez-González, &

Wolfenzon, 2007; Caselli and Gennaioli, 2011) and hence negative overall effects

on a country’s economic wealth.The book “Family Businesses in Transition Economies” comprises 16 chapters

that provide a consistent outlook of the specificity of family firms’ research intransitional economies and challenges it faces. It covers many economies in Eastern

Europe and Russia, covering many of these important topics pertaining to family

firms, among others. The authors of each chapter introduce new data and provide

insights into family firms and economic development into countries that are grossly

understudied in academic work. In the first chapter, the editors introduce some of the

issues in family firms and explain the organization of the book. The uniqueness of

family firms is described in chapter “Context and Uniqueness of Family Businesses”.

The uniqueness of transition economies is described in chapter “Context and Unique-

ness of Transition Economies”, and institutional features of transition economies are

considered in detail in chapter “Different Features of Transition Economies: Institu-

tions Matter”. Specific countries are examined in chapters “To Be or Not to Be in a

Family Business: The Case of Eight Countries in South-Eastern European Region”,

“Management Practices in Bulgarian Family and Non-family SMEs: Exploring

“Real” Differences”, “Obstacles and Opportunities for Development of Family

Businesses: Experiences from Moldova”, “Successors’ Innovativeness as a CrucialSuccession Challenge of Family Businesses in Transition Economies: The Case of

Slovenia”, “Family Business Succession Risks: The Croatian Context”, “The Suc-

cession Issues in Family Firms: Insights from Macedonia”, “Attributes of Financial

Management of Family Companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia”, “Owner-

ship Structure, Cash Constraints and Investment Behaviour in Russian Family

Firms”, and “Family Businesses Motives for Internationalisation: Evidence from

Serbia”, including nine European countries in chapter “To Be or Not to Be in a

Family Business: The Case of Eight Countries in South-Eastern European Region”,

Bulgaria (chapter “Management Practices in Bulgarian Family and Non-family

SMEs: Exploring “Real” Differences”), Moldova (chapter “Obstacles and Opportu-

nities for Development of Family Businesses: Experiences fromMoldova”), Slovenia

(chapter “Successors’ Innovativeness as a Crucial Succession Challenge of FamilyBusinesses in Transition Economies: The Case of Slovenia”), Croatia (chapter

“Family Business Succession Risks: The Croatian Context”), Macedonia (chapter

“The Succession Issues in Family Firms: Insights fromMacedonia”), Czech Republic

and Slovakia (chapter “Attributes of Financial Management of Family Companies in

the Czech Republic and Slovakia”), Russia (chapter “Ownership Structure, Cash

Constraints and Investment Behaviour in Russian Family Firms”), and Serbia (chap-

ter “Family Businesses Motives for Internationalisation: Evidence from Serbia”).

Chapter “Entering New Markets: Strategies for Internationalization of Family Busi-

nesses” studies internationalization strategies for family firms in Albania.

Chapter “Family Business in Sport Organizations: Western Experiences as Lessons

for Transitional Economies” examines sports clubs as family firms. Finally, chapter

“Family Businesses in the Trade Sector: An Examination of a Case Study from

Kosovo” examines the Albi Group, a case study from Kosovo.

x Foreword

The editors are to be congratulated for assembling a fine set of chapters on such

an important topic. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an

interest in family firms and/or transition economies.

Toronto, ON, Canada Douglas Cumming

June 18, 2014

References

Aidis, R., Welter, F., Smallbone, D., & Isakova, N. (2007). Female entrepreneurship in transition

economies: The case of Lithuania and Ukraine. Feminist Economics, 13(2), 157–183.Bennedsen, M., Nielsen, K., Pérez-González, F., & Wolfenzon, D. (2007). Inside the family firm:

The role of families in succession decisions and performance.Quarterly Journal of Economics,122, 647–691.

Cao, J., Cumming, D. J., & Wang, X. (2014). One child policy and family firms in China. Journalof Corporate Finance, forthcoming.

Caselli, F., & Gennaioli, N. (2011). Dynastic management (NBER Working Paper).Claessens, S., Djankov, S., Fan, J. P. H., & Lang, L. P. H. (2002). Disentangling the incentive and

entrenchment effects of large shareholdings. Journal of Finance, 57(6), 2741–2771.Dana, L. -P. (2010).When economies change hands: A survey of entrepreneurship in the emerging

markets of Europe from the Balkans to the Baltic States. New York: Routledge.Dana, L. P., & Dana, T. (2003). Management and enterprise development in post-communist

economies. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 1(1), 45–54.Duh, M., & Belak, J. (2008). Special knowledge needs of family enterprises in transition econo-

mies: experiences from Slovenia. Knowledge Management Research and Practice, 6(3), 187–198.

Fan, J. (n.d.). Good governance of family-owned businesses is critical to emerging marketeconomies. Available from: http://www.gcgf.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/global+corporate+governance+forum/news/j_fan_interview [Accessed:

June, 10 2014].

Galetić, L. (2002). Characteristics of family firms management in Croatia. MER Journal forManagement and Development, 4(1), 74–81.

Kadocsa, G. (2003). Research and Development of SMEs at Budapest Tech. International JubileeConference Proceedings (pp. 307–315). Budapest: BMF.

Kamei, K., & Dana, L. -P. (2012). Examining the impact of new policy facilitating SME

succession in Japan: From a viewpoint of risk management in family business. InternationalJournal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 16(1), 60–70.

Mandl, I. (2008). Overview of family business relevant issues. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/family_business/family_business_en.htm [Accessed: June

10, 2014].

McKibbin, P., & Pistrui, D. (1997). East meets west: Innovative forms of foreign trade finance

between Italian family enterprises and E-merging SMEs in Romania. Family Business Review,10(3), 263–281.

Ramadani, V., & Dana, L. -P. (2013). The state of entrepreneurship in the Balkans: Evidence from

selected countries. In V. Ramadani & C. R. Schneider (Eds.), Entrepreneurship in the Balkans:Diversity, support and prospects (pp. 217-250). Heidelberg: Springer.

Ramadani, V., & Schneider, C. R. (Eds.) (2013). Entrepreneurship in the Balkans: Diversity,support and prospects. Heidelberg: Springer.

Foreword xi

http://www.gcgf.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/global+corporate+governance+forum/news/j_fan_interviewhttp://www.gcgf.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/global+corporate+governance+forum/news/j_fan_interviewhttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/family_business/family_business_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/family_business/family_business_en.htm

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Acknowledgment

To the reputable contributors, we would like to thank them to the upmost degree.

Their experience, knowledge, research, dedication, and time were generously

offered in a restless manner. With their work, the importance and necessity for

bringing the book to academic researchers, students, and business owners were

highlighted and realized.

To the reviewers, we owe a debt of gratitude to the exemplary individuals of

academia in the field of family business who have pursued their passion to better us

all. Without their respected and appreciated reviewers, this book would not have the

same value emphasizing the crucial aspects of the theoretic and practical insights

provided by the contributors.

To the distinguished professors and researchers, David Smallbone and Douglas

Cumming, we like to extend a special acknowledgment for their appreciated fore-

words of the book. Their remarkable ability to address readers with their thoughts

and views provides justifiable proof of the significance of this pioneering book of

family businesses in transitional economies.

To the editor from Springer, Prashanth Mahagaonkar, and his splendid team, we

are grateful for their thoughtful suggestions, support, and encouragement that were

offered and well received.

To our families and colleagues, we must express our affectionate thanks. They

stood by us since the very first beginning when the idea of this book was launched.

Their support and motivation are always irreplaceable and necessary for each of

us. We dedicate our gratitude, appreciation, and love for them.

Léo-Paul Dana

Veland Ramadani

xiii

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Abbreviations

CE Central European countries

CEE Central and Eastern Europe

CEO Chief executive officer

COC Control of corruption

COMECON Council for Mutual Assistance

DB Doing business

EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EC European Commission

EIB European Investment Bank

EU European Union

FB Family business

FBR Family Business Review

GDP Gross domestic product

GE Government effectiveness

GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

HRK The official currency of Croatia

IEFS Institute of Economy, Finance and Statistics of the Republic of

Moldova

IFC International Finance Corporation

IFI International Financial Institutions

IT Information and technology

MDL The official currency of Moldova

NIE New Institutional Economics

NPLs Non-performing loans

OB Own business

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PS Political stability

RBV Resource-based view

ROE Return on equity

ROL Rule of law

xv

RQ Regulatory quality

SE South-Eastern countries

SFF Small family firms

SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises

SOE State-owned enterprise

UOCQ Ultimate owner controlling qualification

UOCT Ultimate owner controlling type

VACC Voice and accountability

VIF Variation inflation factor

WB Western Balkan countries

xvi Abbreviations

Contents

Introduction to “Family Business in Transition Economies” . . . . . . . . . 1Léo-Paul Dana and Veland Ramadani

Part I Introductory Issues

Context and Uniqueness of Family Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Veland Ramadani and Frank Hoy

Context and Uniqueness of Transition Economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Léo-Paul Dana and Veland Ramadani

Different Features of Transition Economies: Institutions Matter . . . . . . 71Jelena Trivić and Saša Petković

Part II Management, Succession and Financial Issues

To Be or Not to Be in a Family Business: The Case of Eight Countriesin South-Eastern European Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Jaka Vadnjal and Predrag Ljubotina

Management Practices in Bulgarian Family and Non-family SMEs:Exploring “Real” Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Desislava Yordanova, Zhelyu Vladimirov, and Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva

Obstacles and Opportunities for Development of Family Businesses:Experiences from Moldova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Elena Aculai, Natalia Vinogradova, and Valentina Veverita

Successors’ Innovativeness as a Crucial Succession Challenge of FamilyBusinesses in Transition Economies: The Case of Slovenia . . . . . . . . . . 157Marina Letonja and Mojca Duh

Family Business Succession Risks: The Croatian Context . . . . . . . . . . . 175Iva Senegović, Valerija Bublić, and Gordana Ćorić

xvii

The Succession Issues in Family Firms: Insights from Macedonia . . . . . 199Veland Ramadani, Alain Fayolle, Shqipe Gërguri-Rashiti, and Egzona Aliu

Attributes of Financial Management of Family Companies in theCzech Republic and Slovakia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Jaroslav Belás, Přemysl Bartoš, Roman Hlawiczka, and Mária Hudáková

Ownership Structure, Cash Constraints and Investment Behaviourin Russian Family Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Tullio Buccellato, Gian Fazio, Yulia Rodionova, and Natalia Vershinina

Part III Internationalisation and Other Issues

Family Businesses Motives for Internationalisation: Evidence fromSerbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267Radmila Grozdanić and Mirjana Radović-Marković

Entering New Markets: Strategies for Internationalization of FamilyBusinesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Gadaf Rexhepi

Family Business in Sport Organizations: Western Experiences asLessons for Transitional Economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305Vanessa Ratten

Family Businesses in the Trade Sector: An Examination of aCase Study from Kosovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Veland Ramadani, Gramos Gashi, Taki Fiti, and Betim Humolli

About the Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

xviii Contents

List of Contributors

Elena Aculai The National Institute for Economic Research of the Republic ofMoldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Egzona Aliu LEORON Professional Development Institute, Dubai, United ArabEmirates

Přemysl Bartoš Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata Universityin Zlı́n, Zlı́n, Czech Republic

Jaroslav Belás Department of Enterprise Economics, Faculty of Management andEconomics, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic

Valerija Bublić Department of Entrepreneurship and Management, VERN’ Uni-versity of Applied Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia

Tullio Buccellato Ernst and Young, Paris, France

Gordana Ćorić Department of Entrepreneurship and Management, VERN’ Uni-versity of Applied Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia

Léo-Paul Dana Montpellier Business School, Montpellier Research in Manage-ment, Montpellier, France

Mojca Duh Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Maribor,Slovenia

Alain Fayolle EM Lyon Business School, Lyon, France

Gian Fazio School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College,London, UK

Taki Fiti Faculty of Economics-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University,Skopje, Macedonia

Gramos Gashi Albi Group, Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo

xix

Shqipe Gërguri-Rashiti College of Business Administration, American Univer-sity of Middle East, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Radmila Grozdanić Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship,Belgrade, Serbia

Roman Hlawiczka Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata Univer-sity in Zlı́n, Zlı́n, Czech Republic

Frank Hoy Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

Mária Hudáková Faculty of Special Engineering, University of Žilina, Žilina,Slovakia

Betim Humolli Albi Group, Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo

Marina Letonja GEA College – Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Predrag Ljubotina GEA College – Faculty for Entrepreneurship, Piran, Slovenia

Saša Petković Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka,Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mirjana Radović-Marković Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneur-ship, Belgrade, Serbia

Veland Ramadani Faculty of Business and Economics, South-East EuropeanUniversity, Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia

Vanessa Ratten School of Management, La Trobe Business School, La TrobeUniversity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Gadaf Rexhepi Faculty of Business and Economics, South-East European Uni-versity, Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia

Yulia Rodionova Department of Accounting and Finance, Leicester BusinessSchool, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Iva Senegović Department of Entrepreneurship and Management, VERN’ Uni-versity of Applied Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia

Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria

Jelena Trivić Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka,Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jaka Vadnjal GEA College – Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Piran, Slovenia

Natalia Vershinina Department of Strategic Management and Marketing, Leices-ter Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

xx List of Contributors

Valentina Veverita Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Policiesand Liberal Profession Department, The Ministry of Economy, Chisinau, Republic

of Moldova

Natalia Vinogradova The National Institute for Economic Research of theRepublic of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Zhelyu Vladimirov Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, SofiaUniversity St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria

Desislava Yordanova Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, SofiaUniversity St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria

List of Contributors xxi

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Reviewers

In the pioneering book, editors Dana and Ramadani have compiled the work of36 leading scholars of family businesses in the transition economies. The researchpresented in this book is based on multiple studies of around 3,000 family firmslocated in the transition economies of Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, CzechRepublic, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.The authors shed light on the unique and distinct contextual opportunities anddilemmas that enterprising families face in each country. Not only is this book amust-read for researchers, educators, students, practitioners, and policy makersinterested in family businesses in transition economies, it is perhaps an even moreimportant reading for those operating in other contexts to expand their theoreticalperspectives and understand the robustness of their research findings. Kudos to theeditors and the authors!

Pramodita Sharma, Editor, Family Business ReviewSanders Professor of Family Business, The University of Vermont, USA

In this pioneering book, the authors—all respected scholars and experts in thefield of family business—offer a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-artresearch on family businesses in transitional countries. The book introduces thereader to the richness and uniqueness of this most common type of businessorganization operating in the challenging environment of Eastern Europe. Itaddresses highly relevant topics such as the management, succession, financing,and internationalization of family businesses, revealing interesting research find-ings with significant implications for theory and practice. This book is an indis-pensable resource for researchers, students, policy makers, entrepreneurs, andanyone who is concerned about the future development and continuity of familybusinesses in Eastern Europe and beyond.

Vincent Molly, ProfessorKU Leuven Campus Brussels, Belgium

The editors, Léo-Paul Dana and Veland Ramadani, have done an astonishingcompilation of important topics and reputable authors that treat the concept,process, and theoretical achievements in the field of family businesses as one of

xxiii

the strongest economic engines. The book—Family businesses in transitional econ-omies—as a pioneering book that treats these businesses from the perspective oftransitional economies will be more than necessary for the academics, for policymakers, and especially for graduate and Ph.D. students, who want to enrich theirknowledge on the context, challenges, and activities of family businesses thatoperate in this region.

Nexhbi Veseli, Professor,South-East European University, Macedonia

There is no doubt that family enterprises make an important contribution to thenational and global economies. In world economies, family enterprises representthe majority of all enterprises. The social and economic changes in Eastern Europeended the period when private enterprises were outlawed and created an opportu-nity for the rebirth of entrepreneurship and family business development. Themicro-and small-to-medium enterprise sectors have been recognized in the transi-tion countries as an engine for economic recovery by creating jobs and fostering thedevelopment of an entrepreneurial tradition. This book, edited by Dana andRamadani, will add to new perspectives about the importance of family businessin transition economies. This is the first book to summarize comprehensively andextensively by showing strategy research with a focus on transition economies. Thebook combines theoretical rigor with up-to-date evidence on a highly relevanttopic. It has also a significant value for practitioners and policy makers since itwill highlight important factors from transition economies and will discuss impor-tant managerial and policy implications.

Mustafa Fedai Çavuş, Associate ProfessorOsmaniye Korkut Ata University, Turkey

xxiv Reviewers

ForewordReference

ForewordReferences

AcknowledgmentAbbreviationsContentsList of ContributorsReviewers