„FamData“ – a database for research on family businesses (2023)
The FamData database of the Stiftung Familienunternehmen was initiated in 2017 and has been continuously built up and enriched with data since then. The database has now grown to around 12,000 companies (as of January 2023) and contains data and survey results from numerous primary research projects conducted by the Family Business Foundation in collaboration with the ifo Institute and other research institutions.
Basically, FamData contains three areas:
1. business database: pseudonymized structural and financial variables of all businesses with the distinction (if possible) between family and non-family businesses including the TOP 500 family businesses with a corresponding control group from the group of non-family businesses that match in structure (such as industry and business size) with those of the largest family businesses.
2. survey data: Pseudonymized survey data on relevant economic policy issues among participating panel businesses (about 3,800 businesses available for regular surveys) and newly recruited businesses.
3. shareholder data: Pseudonymized shareholder data collected in surveys of family business panel members such as questions on generation or succession handling of the family business.
The FamData database offers the possibility to study family businesses per se or in comparison to non-family businesses. By collecting all essential structural data and financial variables from Bureau van Dijk's Orbis database, an outstanding (micro-)database is available. All variables included in FamData are documented and processed in the statistical program Stata (.dta format).
A more detailed description of the project and data can be found here.
Data access:
1. external researchers who are interested in the microdata on the basis of scientific, non-commercial research projects can submit an application to the ifo Institute stating the purpose of the research (unternehmensmonitor@ifo.de). As the owner of the data, the Stiftung Familienunternehmen will examine the requested research project.
2. If the Stiftung Familienunternehmen grants approval, the data are available for analysis free of charge in secured facilities at the LMU-ifo Economics & Business Data Center in Munich. For data use, researchers should contact ebdc@ifo.de directly.
Datenschutzerklärung_FamData_de.docx
Publications:
Johanna Garnitz, Friedrich Lührs, Annette von Maltzan, Klaus Wohlrabe, "„FamData“ – eine Datenbank für Forschungen zu Familienunternehmen: Hintergründe, Ergebnisse und Zugang", ifo Schnelldienst, 2023, 76, Nr. 07, 51-57
Garnitz, Johanna, von Maltzan, Annette and Wohlrabe, Klaus. "FamData: Database for Family Business Companies in Germany Covering Company Key Figures and Survey Data" Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2023-0056