Family businesses play a vital role that extends beyond mere economic activity. They serve as custodians of an enduring legacy, promoting financial stability, social welfare, community bonds, and long-term livelihoods (De Massis et al., 2018). They rise above short-term logic and orient their strategic thinking beyond today, ensuring that upcoming generations flourish and increase wealth. Therefore, family firms leverage family capital to establish future strategies that balance social, economic, and environmental objectives for long-term impact (e.g., Jaskiewicz et al., 2015). This long-term orientation transforms legacy into both a lens for understanding family firm behavior and a mechanism for generating enduring value across generations and communities.
This forward-thinking approach guarantees a lasting positive impact and naturally leads to considering the concept of legacy itself and its potential to help family firms create broadly defined value. In particular, legacy may serve as a catalyst for family resources to guide family firms’ efforts toward a positive impact, reaching beyond the confines of the family and the business.
Commonly defined as the entirety of heritage, inheritance, birthright, and tradition handed down from a predecessor or the past (Radu-Lefebvre et al., 2024), legacy is inherently linked with one of the defining features of family firms: their transgenerational intention (Berrone et al., 2012; Manelli et al., 2023). Indeed, legacy stands as “…the invisible hand within the family business that ties the past with the present and the future…” (Radu-Lefebvre et al., 2024, p. 45).
Literature identifies three forms of legacy that arise in family firms (Hammond et al., 2016): biological, passed down through artifacts like family name and genetics (Zacher et al., 2011); material, involving tangible artifacts such as family heirlooms and properties (Hunter, 2008; Zellweger et al., 2012); and social legacy, concerning the channels and messages used to transfer the unique set of values held by the family as well as their attitudes and beliefs (Hunter & Rowles, 2005). These three types of legacy have been investigated in four streams of literature at both the individual and group levels, encompassing families and organizations (Hammond et al., 2016; Radu-Lefebvre et al., 2024). The founders’ legacy refers to their beliefs and intentions, aiming to continue shaping family business behaviours even after their demise (e.g., Durán et al., 2016; Fernández-Roca & López-Manjón, 2019; Hradský & Sadílek, 2020). The family legacy is described as a collection of “family values, norms, and belief systems” (LeCounte, 2022, p. 624), as well as “shared historical experiences and similar family histories” (Redding, 1995, p. 62), which are intergenerationally transferred (Pérez & Puig, 2000; De Massis et al., 2016). The family firm legacy represents a system of values and rules that outline the objectives to be pursued, the methods for achieving them, and the criteria for evaluating their success (e.g., Ferri & Takahashi, 2022; Lundberg & Öberg, 2021; Keplinger et al., 2016). The entrepreneurial legacy, often viewed as part of the family legacy, is shaped by the family’s narrative of past entrepreneurial successes or resilience passed down through generations (e.g., Jaskiewicz et al., 2015; Cherchem, 2017; Igwe et al., 2020).
Legacy is thus a layered and dynamic phenomenon, simultaneously cultural, emotional, strategic, and symbolic, deeply embedded in family, business, and society.
Family capital, in turn, refers to the stocks and flows of resources that arise from the interplay between family and firm, comprising three dimensions: human, financial, and social (Danes et al. 2009). Family human capital is represented by the skills, abilities, attitudes, and values of family members, considered both a resource and a constraint depending on the life-cycle stage of the family or firm, as well as contextual and environmental peculiarities. Family financial capital consists of both monetary and physical assets owned by family members, whether individually or collectively. Family social capital refers to the goodwill among family members and between families and their community. Unlike human capital, which is embodied in individuals, social capital is embodied in the relationships between people and formal social institutions.
These dimensions of family capital not only influence the long-term survivability of family businesses but, when mobilized through a legacy-oriented lens, provide a platform from which impact can be driven. The orientation towards maintaining a legacy means expanding the transgenerational view from the family dimension to society at large. This constantly urges family businesses to align their strategic decisions with a broader purpose that embraces both family and community, as well as financial and non-financial goals. That is, family capital naturally helps family members invest both financial and non-financial resources in a socially responsible way (Berk & van Binsbergen, 2025), generating a social impact (Cruz et al., 2021). The transgenerational logic, rooted in family capital and the needs of stakeholders, along with the deeper local embeddedness of families, drives family firms toward entrepreneurial and financial initiatives whose benefits are accessible to the entire community due to the concrete resolution of social or environmental problems. This orientation also provides an experiential advantage because family capital serves as a protective shield for family investors against short-term profit pressure, even if it necessitates a measurable impact.
Ultimately, legacy could act as the aspiration to nurture family capital across generations, serving as a driving force behind family firms’ long-term strategic orientation and reinforcing their commitment to enduring, positive impact. It helps redefine success in family business by integrating continuity, purpose, and responsibility.
Therefore, we propose as a theme for IFERA 2026: “Legacy in Action: Mobilizing Family Capital for Enduring Impact.” The call welcomes papers dedicated to investigating the role of legacy in enabling family capital to exert a positive impact (considered at financial, social and environmental level) on family, businesses, and community. We encourage scholars to explore legacy in its multifaceted nature as well as to consider different dimensions of family capital and (or) their interaction in creating value. We welcome both conceptual and empirical contributions using diverse methodological approaches.
The Multifaceted Nature of Legacy
Family Capital as a Driver of Impact
Integrating Legacy and Strategic Decision-Making
Transgenerational Intentions and Strategic Planning
Social Impact and Responsibility
Legacy and Community Engagement
Leadership for Legacy
We invite your contributions and look forward to your submissions.
IFERA 2026 welcomes a varied and wide range of submissions to create a vibrant conference environment among family business scholars. Submission types include:
Berk, J. B., & Van Binsbergen, J. H. (2025). The impact of impact investing. Journal of Financial Economics, 164, 103972.
Berrone, P., Cruz, C., & Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (2012). Socioemotional wealth in family firms: Theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research. Family business review, 25(3), 258-279.
Cherchem, N. (2017). The relationship between organizational culture and entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: does generational involvement matter?. Journal of family business strategy, 8(2), 87-98.
Cruz, C., Justo, R., & Roche, J. (2021). Engaging in a new field: business-owning families’ differential approach to impact investing. European Journal of Family Business, 11(1).
Danes, S. M., Stafford, K., Haynes, G., & Amarapurkar, S. S. (2009). Family capital of family firms: Bridging human, social, and financial capital. Family business review, 22(3), 199-215.
De Massis, A., Frattini, F., Kotlar, J., Petruzzelli, A. M., & Wright, M. (2016). Innovation through tradition: Lessons from innovative family businesses and directions for future research. Academy of management Perspectives, 30(1), 93-116.
De Massis, A., Frattini, F., Majocchi, A., & Piscitello, L. (2018). Family firms in the global economy: Toward a deeper understanding of internationalization determinants, processes, and outcomes. Global Strategy Journal, 8(1), 3-21.
Durán, R. F., Lozano, M. B., & Yaman, S. (2016). Is family control relevant for corporate cash holding policy?. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 43(9-10), 1325-1360.
Fernández-Roca, F. J., & López-Manjón, J. D. (2021). Business must go on: 175 years of an olive oil business beyond firms and families. Business History, 63(3), 421-442.
Ferri, P., & Takahashi, A. R. (2022). Standing the test of time: understanding how long-living family firms make use of the past to preserve organizational identity. Management & Organizational History, 17(1-2), 76-96.
Hammond, N. L., Pearson, A. W., & Holt, D. T. (2016). The quagmire of legacy in family firms: Definition and implications of family and family firm legacy orientations. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(6), 1209-1231.
Hradský, O., & Sadílek, T. (2020). Motivation of Generation Y Members working in their Parents’ Businesses. Journal of East European Management Studies, 25(1), 35–54.
Hunter, E. G. (2008). Beyond death: Inheriting the past and giving to the future, transmitting the legacy of one’s self. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 56(4), 313-329.
Hunter, E. G., & Rowles, G. D. (2005). Leaving a legacy: Toward a typology. Journal of aging studies, 19(3), 327-347.
Igwe, P. A., Madichie, N. O., & Amoncar, N. (2020). Transgenerational business legacies and intergenerational succession among the Igbos (Nigeria). Small Enterprise Research, 27(2), 165-179.
Jaskiewicz, P., Combs, J. G., & Rau, S. B. (2015). Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship. Journal of business venturing, 30(1), 29-49.
Keplinger, K., Feldbauer-Durstmüller, B., Sandberger, S., & Neulinger, M. (2016). Entrepreneurial activities of Benedictine monasteries-a special form of family business?. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 8(4), 317-333.
LeCounte, J. F. (2022). Founder-CEOs: Succession planning for the success, growth, and legacy of family firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 60(3), 616-633.
Lundberg, H., & Öberg, C. (2021). The matter of locality: family firms in sparsely populated regions. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 33(7-8), 493-513.
Manelli, L., Magrelli, V., Kotlar, J., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., & Frattini, F. (2023). Building an outward-oriented social family legacy: rhetorical history in family business foundations. Family Business Review, 36(1), 143-168.
Pérez, P. F., & Puig, N. (2004). Knowledge and training in family firms of the European periphery: Spain in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. Business History, 46(1), 79-99.
Radu-Lefebvre, M., Davis, J. H., & Gartner, W. B. (2024). Legacy in family business: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. Family Business Review, 37(1), 18-59.
Redding, G. (1995). Overseas Chinese networks: Understanding the enigma. Long Range Planning, 28(1), 61–69.
Zacher, H., Rosing, K., & Frese, M. (2011). Age and leadership: The moderating role of legacy beliefs. The leadership quarterly, 22(1), 43-50.
Zellweger, T. M., Kellermanns, F. W., Chrisman, J. J., & Chua, J. H. (2012). Family control and family firm valuation by family CEOs: The importance of intentions for transgenerational control. Organization science, 23(3), 851-868.
Submit before February 1, 2026.
We strongly believe that sessions that do not relate with paper presentations are equally important and beneficial to the delegate’s experience. We also realized that this is a great opportunity for our community to actively contribute to the conference program and bring fresh perspectives and people to the floor.
So, we would like to invite all of you to challenge yourself and finally bring to life that idea currently sitting in the back of your head.
As much as we love building our scientific program, we really think that you can be more innovative and improve the IFERA experience even more.
We are looking for sessions in the form of panels, workshops, debates, interviews, invited speakers, experiments and any other innovative format you can think of.
The session should be relevant to our audience and should be:
You will have to submit your proposal directly on Exordo, following this Template.
This proposal is referred to a one-hour session at the IFERA 2026 Annual Conference in Naples, Italy.
Slots dedicated to special sessions will be on June 10, 11 and 12 and will be allocated in any of these 3 dates by the Program Committee.
The author/s of the proposal, if selected, will be the session chair/s.
As a chair you will be responsible for the overall organization and coordination of the session, and you will provide the IFERA Office with all relevant info in a timely manner.
Invited speakers of Special Sessions are welcome to attend their session free of charge and to stay for the rest of the day. However, speakers who are presenting papers in other sessions, or who wish to participate for more than one day, are kindly asked to register for the conference and pay the applicable conference fee. In addition, speakers who are not registered but would like to join the evening social events (Social and Gala Dinner) will be required to pay the guest fee for each event they attend.
May you need any further information about the process, please write an email to office@ifera.org.
Good luck with your proposal!
GO TO THE SUBMISSION WEBSITE AT: IFERA 2026 SUBMISSIONS
Once you have accessed the website click on “New Submission” from the Submissions section.
The conference is organized around multiple tracks. Please read carefully the general and track-specific guidelines, and make sure you are making the correct choice for your submission. Once you make your selection you will be guided by the system to input all the relevant information for your selected track.
At IFERA 2026, we seek high-quality research contributions that advance theory and practice in family business studies, with particular emphasis on work that meaningfully engages with the conference theme, Legacy in Action: Mobilizing Family Capital for Enduring Impact.
We welcome innovative, rigorous and relevant submissions that demonstrate clear intellectual merit, methodological soundness, and practical implications for scholars, family business owners, advisors, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Contributions should not only explore important theoretical questions, but also show how research insights can inform practice, guide decision-making, and shape long-term sustainable strategies in family business contexts.
We are particularly interested in work that:
The program will be organized in two main parts: the Academic Program and the Research Development Program. These include the following submission types:
The Program Committee reserves the right to change the original submission type at its discretion, based on reviewers’ feedback and conference program constraints. In such a case, the Program Committee will offer the alternative presentation format.
Upon completion of peer review, if your submission is selected for inclusion in the conference, you will be notified with the decision on the presentation format of your submission.
All submissions are deemed as final after the main deadline. Therefore the following will not be accepted after the deadline.
Cancellation of registration is not eligible for refunds. In case of cancellation the registration can be transferred to another author of the same paper. In case of single authored papers, 50% of the paid registration will be applied to the next year’s conference registration fee
The following guidelines apply to all submission types:
The title page should not contain author information. Just include the title of the manuscript and abstract in the first page.
Limit: 150 words
A concise abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Please follow APA style for references both in-text and in the reference section located at the end of the paper. References within the text of your manuscript: Use the author-date method of citation. For instance, “As noted by Smith (1776).”
Reference to a journal publication:Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.
Reference to a book:
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter 4).
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.
Please follow a consistent format and for more details regarding the APA style please visit: http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/apa/apa01.html
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