Family firms and industrial districts:: Evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry

•The paper studies the impact of family ownership and districtual affiliation on performance.•There is a positive effect of family ownership on profitability, whereas the district effect is less evident.•The “district effect” and the “family effect” are substitutes in small firms and complements in medium-sized firms.•Medium-sized firms are the best at leveraging the benefits of the district, but only in case of family ownership.