The destiny of kibbutz industry in Israel: From family businesses to cash mergers

In 2000, the list of the Israeli Kibbutz Industry Association included 346 factories. In 2017, only 203 of those plants still appeared on the list, most of the others were sold. This paper propounds a theory that explains these facts from a kibbutz perspective. The paper rests on a meta-analysis of three case studies of kibbutz enterprises conducted between 2009 and 2015, and other sources of data. The main claim is that kibbutz factories previously operated as family businesses; but in recent decades, they have experienced a process of "de-familiarization", described in this paper, that often led to their sale. No literature relates to this dramatic recent development in kibbutz industry yet. In addition, this study sheds some light on change processes which may affect ownership in family business.