TO SUCCEED IN SUCCESSIONS:FAMILY SUCCESSION AND FIRM BEHAVIOR IN CHINESE FAMILY FIRMS

Abstract

In family firms, CEO successions are key events for firms’ sustainable development, and different types of successors may influence firm behaviors in significantly different ways. To respond to the mixed results of extant studies and unveil the underlying effects, this study adopted a socioemotional wealth perspective. The hypothesis was that family firms with internal succession are more likely to be involved in behaviors that could increase the socioemotional wealth of the family, including corporate innovation, diversification strategies, and corporate philanthropy. Using data on Chinese publiclylisted family firms from 2008 to 2017, the above hypotheses were tested. Results largely showed support for the hypotheses. Multiple methods were employed to mitigate endogeneity problems and enhance robustness. Overall, this study contributes to the current research on family leadership by proving that internal family succession has a positive influence on preserving the socioemotional wealth of the family.