Looking at IPO signals in family firms: the role of Intellectual Capital Disclosure

Family businesses face challenges in balancing their unique values with external pressures, especially during Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Drawing on signalling theory, we explore how family involvement in governance affects intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) and its subsequent impact on post-IPO survival. To this aim, we analyse 179 Italian family IPOs between 2000 and 2022. Our results uncover a U-shaped relationship between family governance involvement—at both ownership and board levels—and ICD. Moreover, the latter not only balances the perception of family influence but also positively affects post-IPO survival by demonstrating the firm’s commitment to leveraging knowledge assets. We contribute to the ongoing debate on the signals and disclosure strategies in family firms’ IPOs by considering the going public process in its entirety. Our findings also bear important managerial implications for both senders and receivers of the IPO prospectus signals.