Hanna Almlöf

A foundation is a particular form of legal entity that owns itself and govern an economic wealth to fulfil a long-term purpose. For that reason, foundations hold the potential to promote and uphold sustainable business activities for societal benefit. In this interdisciplinary research project, we study how foundations are used for direct, or indirect, control of family businesses and other locally rooted enterprises. Further we explore the roles of foundations in exercising active and responsible ownership. By combining law and business administration, we study the regulation of foundations, how foundations are governed and in turn exercise ownership control, how family businesses' long-term goals can be preserved through foundation formation and how foundations can contribute to socially sustainable development throughout Sweden.

The project is a collaboration between Linköping University, CeFEO — Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership at Jönköping International Business School and Lund University. It has received funding from The Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research & Charity and Jan Wallander & Tom Hedelius’ Foundation and Tore Browaldh’s Foundation.

In the interdisciplinary research project Ownership Dynamics in Closely Held Companies – Causes, Effects and Regulation we study all types of partial ownership changes in clsely held companies and family firms. By focusing on this topic, we go beyond the limited aspects covered in current literature, namely: succession, buy-outs and business failure. We aim to deepen the understanding of what causes ownership changes (e.g. conflicts, death or sales), who acquires the shares (e.g. current owners, family members or external parties), and how this affects business performance. We also study if and how owners take advantage of legal instrument to regulate future ownership change and the market for legal advice to family businesses and their owners on these topics.

The project is a collaboration between Linköping University and CeFEO — Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership  at Jönköping International Business School. It has recieved funding from  Jan Wallander & Tom Hedelius’ Foundation and Tore Browaldh’s Foundation.