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Gunter Grittmann
Head of Information and Communication
E-mail: grittmann@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-132
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-255
Kathrin Böhmer
Public Relations Officer
E-mail: boehmer@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-103
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-255
Family businesses played a major role in the job market growth of the last years. From 2006 until 2010, the 500 leading German family businesses created approx. 300,000 new jobs in Germany alone. This equals an employment growth of nine per cent. To put these numbers into context: In the same period of time, domestic employment in the firms listed in the German stock index Dax decreased by 100,000 jobs, which equals seven per cent. These are the key findings of a study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, in cooperation with the Center for SME Research and Entrepreneurship at the University of Mannheim on behalf of the Foundation for Family Businesses (Stiftung Familienunternehmen). read more
Businesses that are at least 50 per cent family-owned rely more heavily than other enterprises on short-term credit in order to finance long-term investment and innovation projects. This gives them more flexibility and helps staying independent from external capital providers. In order to preserve their financial independence, family businesses are prepared to pay higher interest rates of short-term credits. These are the findings of a study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, which compared the financing behaviour of 1,417 family businesses and 1,195 non-family businesses in Germany. read more