Abstract
Long-established corporations stable. By examining the cases of the German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA and US subsidiary Merck & Co., Inc. (MSD), this study examines the factors that influence corporate longevity. The standard deviation of the share price of Merck ($28.27) is higher than that of MSD ($15.10) over a 20-year period, thus indicating that the share price of Merck significantly fluctuated. The main cause of this difference might be the capitalisation of Merck of 30% of their capital as a limited partnership with shares in 1995. We hypothesise that a structural governance change occurred in both corporations owing to two aspects, on the one hands, emphasising the legal status for the general partner of family ownership for Merck and the other, this change shows the heterogeneity of institutional investors for their ownership for MSD.
https://ror.org/02rqvrp93 
