About the Project
Project title: Governance and Restructuring of Family Businesses in the Age of Generational Transition
Project acronym: 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ
Project number: uniri-iz-25-23
Project financing: European Union – NextGenerationEU
Project duration: 1 October 2025 – 30 September 2029
Total value of the project (EUR): 41.544,25
Legal disclaimer: The project is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
Project Leader
Name and surname: Associate professor Mihaela Braut Filipović, PhD
E-mail: mihaelabf@pravri.uniri.hr
Project Team Members
- Professor Edita Čulinović-Herc, PhD, edita.culinovic.herc@pravri.uniri.hr
- Professor Dionis Jurić, PhD, dionis.juric@pravri.uniri.hr
- Professor Sandra Laleta, PhD, sandra.laleta@pravri.uniri.hr
- Professor Nataša Žunić Kovačević, PhD, natasazk@pravri.uniri.hr
- Professor Maja Bukovac Puvača, PhD, maja.bukovac.puvaca@pravri.uniri.hr
- Professor Mirela Alpeza, PhD, mirela.alpeza@efos.hr
- Professor Steen Thomsen, PhD, st.ccg@cbs.dk
- Associate professor Antonija Zubović, PhD, antonija.zubovic@pravri.uniri.hr
- Associate professor Sandra Winkler, PhD, sandra.winkler@pravri.uniri.hr
- Associate professor Mirjana Grčić Fabić, PhD, mirjana.grcic.fabic@efri.uniri.hr
- Associate professor Ana Dujmović, PhD, ana.dujmovic@pf.sum.ba
- Assistant professor Karla Kotulovski, PhD, kkotulovs@pravri.uniri.hr
- Viktorija Pisačić, mag. iur., vpisacic@pravri.uniri.hr
- Mateo Pahljina, spec. iur., mateo.pah@gmail.com
Project Description
Family businesses are an important factor in the Croatian economy. In these companies, members of the same family typically hold one or more roles, whether as founders, shareholders, managers, and/or employees. As most of these businesses were established in the 1990s, they are now facing a key challenge: the first generational transfer of business, aiming to preserve the value and continuity of family entrepreneurship. The transfer of business shares requires a coordinated analysis of company law with obligations, inheritance, labor, and tax regulations, together with economic aspects – from valuation methods to financial and strategic assessments of business sustainability. The research will also examine instruments for long-term control over family businesses, such as family foundations, By analyzing and synthesizing the legal and economic aspects of governance and restructuring of family businesses amid generational change, this research will offer scientifically grounded recommendations to improve the regulatory framework and enhance the sustainability of family businesses in generational transitions.
Project goals:
- to conduct a scientific analysis of the legal aspects of governance and business transfer in family businesses during generational transitions under Croatian company law, and to link these findings with other legal disciplines (labour, tax, contract, and inheritance law) as well as with related interdisciplinary economic aspects.
- to compare and exchange the results of the conducted scientific research with the findings of other international research groups within the European context.
- to communicate and exchange the results of the scientific research with various categories of stakeholders (the judiciary, policymakers, family businesses and others), and to propose appropriate legal solutions for family businesses currently undergoing their first generational transition, thereby strengthening cooperation and the social responsibility of the public higher education institution towards the business sector.
- to disseminate the results of the scientific research to the academic and professional community, including proposals for amendments to the legislative framework, in line with the principles of open science, and to disseminate the research findings to the wider public in a science-popular format.
Expected results:
- The research team will, throughout the duration of the project, publish scientific papers in open access and digital format, thereby ensuring their continuous availability to the academic, professional, and wider public community. In addition, team members will present the research findings at various dissemination events (either organised by the team itself or by other institutions), and the conclusions and/or book of abstracts from these events will be made available in digital form on the project’s website.
- The research team will also maintain a digital blog, published on the Faculty’s website, through which the results of the research will be communicated in a science-popular format.
- The goal of these activities is to analyse and propose legal solutions that will facilitate the generational transition of family businesses and contribute to the preservation of tradition and the long-term success of these companies.
Key words:
- Family business, family business governance, transfer of business shares, inheritance law aspects of business transfer, tax law aspects of business transfer, family foundation, business sustainability
Project Results
Members of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia Project Presented Research Results at a Roundtable Organized by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Members of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia research project presented selected research findings at the online roundtable “Corporate Control and Sustainable Business”, held on 27 February 2026. The event was organized by the Scientific Council for State Administration, Judiciary and Rule of Law of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU).
The roundtable gathered around 60 participants, including prominent scholars as well as representatives of companies and legal practice.
Project team members presented several research topics developed within the project through the following presentations:
• Prof. Edita Čulinović-Herc and Prof. Hana Horak – Corporate Control and Sustainable Business: How Can Companies Manage Corporate Sustainability Risks in an Era of Increasing Responsibility?
• Associate Professor Antonija Zubović – Rewarding Long-Term Shareholders with Loyalty Shares: Effects and Emerging Regulatory Trends
• Prof. Dionis Jurić – Companies under Responsible Ownership: An Old/New Concept
• Associate Professor Mihaela Braut Filipović and Mateo Pahljina, spec. iur. – Governance of Foundations with a Corporate Purpose: Open Questions
Additional information about the event is available on the official website of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts: Link
Principal investigator of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia Project Participated in a Panel on Entrepreneurial Exit in Family Companies
The principal investigator of the research project 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia, Associate Professor Mihaela Braut Filipović, participated in the panel discussion “Entrepreneurial Exit”, held as part of the event “Generational Transition in Croatian Companies: Who Takes the Helm?” in Rijeka on 5 March 2026. The event took place at STEP RI – the Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka and was organized by CEPOR.
During the panel discussion, she presented the purpose and objectives of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia research project, which focuses on the legal and economic aspects of generational transition in family-owned companies. In the discussion, she highlighted various options available to entrepreneurs and founders when planning their exit from a company, with particular emphasis on the transfer of ownership and management to the next generation.
In this context, she also presented possible de lege ferenda directions for the development of private-purpose foundations in Croatia, including the potential introduction of business transfer models based on family foundations.
The panel discussion gathered a broad professional audience, including entrepreneurs, consultants, lawyers, and other interested participants.
Research Stay at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business
From 22 to 28 March 2026, Associate Professor Mihaela Braut Filipović undertook a research stay at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Institute for Corporate Law (Institut für Unternehmensrecht).
The stay was carried out under the project 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Croatia, with the aim of conducting research on topics related to the project, in particular corporate governance in family-owned companies and the role of private foundations in business transfer within such companies.
This mobility contributed to the further development of the project and to strengthening international academic cooperation.
Members of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Project Presented Five Topics at the 32nd International Conference “Petar Simonetti”
Members of the 2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ project, together with their collaborators, presented the results of their research through five presentations at the 32nd International Conference “Petar Simonetti”, held on 16 April 2026 in Poreč.
At this traditional conference, which brings together judges, attorneys, and legal professionals from both practice and academia, research findings were presented on key issues related to business transfer in family-owned companies.
The following topics were covered:
- Specific requirements for the validity of ancestors’ contractual dispositions in favour of descendants with inheritance effects
Prof. Maja Bukovac Puvača, PhD; Assoc. Prof. Iva Tuhtan Grgić, PhD - Withdrawal of business shares in a limited liability company
Assoc. Prof. Tomislav Jakšić, PhD; Assoc. Prof. Mihaela Braut Filipović, PhD - Strengthening family-owned companies for a sustainable future
Assoc. Prof. Antonija Zubović, PhD - Challenges and selected issues in the tax treatment of business transfers in family enterprises
Prof. Edita Čulinović-Herc, PhD; Prof. Nataša Žunić Kovačević, PhD; Viktorija Pisačić, LLM - Different regulation of working time for family members employed in family businesses
Prof. Sandra Laleta, PhD; Assist. Prof. Karla Kotulovski, PhD
Participation in this conference confirms the continuous scientific engagement of the project members and their contribution to the development of legal scholarship and practice in the field of family businesses.
2ND-GEN-FAM-BIZ Blog Series