ABSTRACT
By considering the regional engagement of family and non-family firms through the lens of corporate local and regional responsibility, this chapter sheds light on the wider community-related and societal effects of corporate giving, volunteering, and supporting activities. We illustrate the mechanisms and motivations for firms to take local and regional responsibility and reflect on specific differences between family and non-family firms. This contribution, based on three in-depth qualitative case studies, uses the example of so-called “Hidden Champions” located in small towns in peripheral regions in Germany. We find that the investigated firms provide substantial monetary and non-monetary resources for community purposes in cultural, social, and educational matters, independent of the type of ownership. However, regarding strategic and long-term forms of engagement, the family nature of the firm matters. Our findings suggest that family-related specificities and socio-emotional dimensions of local embeddedness are associated with the family firm’s commitment to corporate support activities. Based on these results, we reflect on implications for municipal and civil society actors in small towns and peripheral regions, regarding processes of building local development partnerships.
