David Landes's comparative study of great family business dynasties — examining why some (Rothschild, Michelin) survived across generations while others collapsed.
The dynastic pattern: Landes identifies the structural challenges common to all family businesses — succession, intra-family conflict, the dilution of talent across generations, the tension between family loyalty and meritocracy. The Rothschild model of strict primogeniture and cousin marriage (maintaining capital concentration) contrasts with dynasties that fragmented wealth through equal inheritance. The book applies economic history to business biography with Landes's characteristic erudition.
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