IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v69y2021ics0929119921000973.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carrying on the family's legacy: Male heirs and firm innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Shu
  • Ying, Sammy Xiaoyan
  • Wu, Huiying
  • You, Jiaxing

Abstract

We predict that entrepreneurs are more likely to have a long-term orientation to their decision making if they have male heirs, because traditionally sons, not daughters, have been expected to carry on the family business. Our results support this prediction. Specifically, we find that when entrepreneurs have at least one son, have more sons, and have a firstborn son, their firms are more innovative. The results are robust to a battery of robustness tests, including alternative measures of innovation, instrumental variable approach, and Heckman two-step correction for selection bias. Our further analyses show that the positive association between male heirs and firm innovation is stronger for entrepreneurs with a greater son preference and is weaker for entrepreneurs who more impacted by the one-child policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Shu & Ying, Sammy Xiaoyan & Wu, Huiying & You, Jiaxing, 2021. "Carrying on the family's legacy: Male heirs and firm innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921000973
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101976
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119921000973
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101976?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    2. Sihai Li & Xianzhong Song & Huiying Wu, 2015. "Political Connection, Ownership Structure, and Corporate Philanthropy in China: A Strategic-Political Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 399-411, June.
    3. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    4. Rohini Pande & Nan Astone, 2007. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Hagedoorn, John & Cloodt, Myriam, 2003. "Measuring innovative performance: is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1365-1379, September.
    6. Stock, James H & Wright, Jonathan H & Yogo, Motohiro, 2002. "A Survey of Weak Instruments and Weak Identification in Generalized Method of Moments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 518-529, October.
    7. Sunder, Jayanthi & Sunder, Shyam V. & Zhang, Jingjing, 2017. "Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 209-224.
    8. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    9. Shelley Clark, 2000. "Son preference and sex composition of children: Evidence from india," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(1), pages 95-108, February.
    10. Cronqvist, Henrik & Yu, Frank, 2017. "Shaped by their daughters: Executives, female socialization, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 543-562.
    11. Monica Das Gupta & Jiang Zhenghua & Li Bohua & Xie Zhenming & Woojin Chung & Bae Hwa-Ok, 2003. "Why is Son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? a cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 153-187.
    12. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C., 2018. "Living through the Great Chinese Famine: Early-life experiences and managerial decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 638-657.
    13. Douglas Almond & Lena Edlund & Kevin Milligan, 2013. "Son Preference and the Persistence of Culture: Evidence from South and East Asian Immigrants to Canada," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 39(1), pages 75-95, March.
    14. G.T. Lumpkin & Keith H. Brigham & Todd W. Moss, 2010. "Long-term orientation: Implications for the entrepreneurial orientation and performance of family businesses," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3-4), pages 241-264, May.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    16. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    17. Alberto Galasso & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2011. "CEO Overconfidence and Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1469-1484, August.
    18. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    19. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    20. Jiang, Xuanyu & Yuan, Qingbo, 2018. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 148-168.
    21. Sihai Li & Huiying Wu & Xianzhong Song, 2017. "Principal–Principal Conflicts and Corporate Philanthropy: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 605-620, March.
    22. Cao, Jerry & Cumming, Douglas & Wang, Xiaoming, 2015. "One-child policy and family firms in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 317-329.
    23. Ming-Hsuan Lee, 2012. "The One-Child Policy and Gender Equality in Education in China: Evidence from Household Data," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 41-52, March.
    24. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    25. Lily H. Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2446-2477.
    26. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    27. Shantanu Dutta & Om Narasimhan & Surendra Rajiv, 2005. "Conceptualizing and measuring capabilities: methodology and empirical application," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 277-285, March.
    28. Rachel Murphy & Ran Tao & Xi Lu, 2011. "Son Preference in Rural China: Patrilineal Families and Socioeconomic Change," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(4), pages 665-690, December.
    29. G. T. Lumpkin & Keith H. Brigham, 2011. "Long–Term Orientation and Intertemporal Choice in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(6), pages 1149-1169, November.
    30. Kong, Dongmin & Zhu, Ling & Yang, Zhiqing, 2020. "Effects of foreign investors on energy firms' innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    31. Gennaro Bernile & Vineet Bhagwat & P. Raghavendra Rau, 2017. "What Doesn't Kill You Will Only Make You More Risk-Loving: Early-Life Disasters and CEO Behavior," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(1), pages 167-206, February.
    32. Trey Cummings & Anne Marie Knott, 2018. "Outside CEOs and innovation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2095-2119, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sun, Lan & Liu, Shaobo & Chen, Peng, 2022. "Does the paternalism of founder-managers improve firm innovation? Evidence from Chinese non-state-owned listed firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. Chi, Yung-Ling, 2023. "The agency costs of family ownership: Evidence from innovation performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    3. Zheng, Xiaojia & Zhu, Bing & Yang, Ge, 2023. "The soft landing: Does intrafamily succession matter for corporate risk-taking?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Bai, Min & Li, Shihe & Lien, Donald & Yu, Chia-Feng (Jeffrey), 2022. "The winner's curse in high-tech enterprise certification: Evidence from stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qing Wan & Xiaoke Cheng & Kam C. Chan & Shenghao Gao, 2021. "Born to innovate? The birth‐order effect of CEOs on corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1846-1888, October.
    2. Christopher Kurzhals & Lorenz Graf‐Vlachy & Andreas König, 2020. "Strategic leadership and technological innovation: A comprehensive review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 437-464, November.
    3. Jiang, Fuxiu & Jiang, Zhan & Kim, Kenneth A. & Zhang, Min, 2015. "Family-firm risk-taking: Does religion matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 260-278.
    4. François Belot & Timothée Waxin, 2017. "Labor Conflicts in French Workplaces: Does (the Type of) Family Control Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 591-617, December.
    5. Fuxiu Jiang & Xiaojia Zheng & Wei Tang, 2018. "Non-family chair and corporate performance," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, December.
    6. Çağatay Bircan & Ralph De Haas, 2020. "The Limits of Lending? Banks and Technology Adoption across Russia," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 536-609.
    7. Oriana Bandiera & Luigi Guiso & Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun, 2015. "Matching Firms, Managers, and Incentives," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(3), pages 623-681.
    8. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    9. Marco Cucculelli & Valentina Peruzzi & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "Relational capital in lending relationships: evidence from European family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 277-301, January.
    10. Suveera Gill & Parmjit Kaur, 2015. "Family Involvement in Business and Financial Performance: A Panel Data Analysis," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 40(4), pages 395-420, December.
    11. Zheng, Xiaojia & Zhu, Bing & Yang, Ge, 2023. "The soft landing: Does intrafamily succession matter for corporate risk-taking?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Andrew Ellul & Marco Pagano & Fausto Panunzi, 2010. "Inheritance Law and Investment in Family Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2414-2450, December.
    13. Tang, Junhua & Osmer, Eric & Zheng, Yao, 2022. "Do married couples make better family firm leaders: Evidence from China," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    14. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2014. "Are founding families special blockholders? An investigation of controlling shareholder influence on firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-16.
    15. Saito, Takuji, 2008. "Family firms and firm performance: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 620-646, December.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5922 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. William Mullins & Antoinette Schoar, 2013. "How do CEOs see their Role? Management Philosophy and Styles in Family and Non-Family Firms," NBER Working Papers 19395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Gallego, Francisco & Larrain, Borja, 2012. "CEO compensation and large shareholders: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 621-642.
    19. Scur, Daniela & Lemos, Renata, 2019. "The ties that bind: implicit contracts and management practices in family-run firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 13794, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Di Giuli, Alberta & Caselli, Stefano & Gatti, Stefano, 2011. "Are small family firms financially sophisticated?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2931-2944, November.
    21. Bowo Setiyono & Amine Tarazi, 2014. "Does the presence of institutional investors in family banks affect profitability and risk? Evidence from an emerging market," Working Papers hal-01077118, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921000973. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.