IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i13p10674-d1188262.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Sustainability of Family Ownership on the Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: Empirical Evidence from Listed Family Firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • Qingnian Wang

    (School of Economics and Finance, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
    School of International Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Yunpei Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Xiaoping Li

    (Dongguan Power Supply Bureau, Guangdong Power Grid Company Ltd., Guangzhou 510663, China)

  • Lan Tang

    (School of Journalism and Communication, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China)

Abstract

Family firms make up the majority of private firms in China and play an important role in China’s national economy. With the deepening development of globalization and the implementation of the “going global” strategy, the overseas investment of family firms in China is increasing day by day. In the process of overseas investment, family firms often face the choice of equity entry mode. And, family strategic decisions may be influenced by family characteristics, in which family ownership is the key. Therefore, this paper discusses how family ownership affects the choice of equity entry mode in the overseas market of family firms. Based on social emotional wealth theory, this paper tries to discuss the relationship between family ownership and equity entry mode of Family firms, bring in external environment and internal governance factors of family firms, and put forward a research hypothesis. In order to verify the hypothesis, this paper takes 623 A-share listed family firms in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets of China from 2010 to 2018 as research samples and tests the data through binomial logistic regression. The findings are as follows: (1) There is a positive correlation between family ownership and the entry mode of family firms in overseas markets. (2) Both the investment uncertainty of a host country and the shareholding ratio of institutional investors negatively moderate the positive correlation between family ownership and the shareholding entry mode of family firms in overseas markets. (3) The quality of home and regional institutions positively moderates the relationship between family ownership and family firms’ equity entry mode in overseas markets. The conclusions expand the empirical research on the relationship between the heterogeneity of Chinese family firms, the strategy of equity entry mode, and their sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Qingnian Wang & Yunpei Wang & Xiaoping Li & Lan Tang, 2023. "The Sustainability of Family Ownership on the Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: Empirical Evidence from Listed Family Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10674-:d:1188262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10674/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10674/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carmelo Cennamo & Pascual Berrone & Cristina Cruz & Luis R. Gomez–Mejia, 2012. "Socioemotional Wealth and Proactive Stakeholder Engagement: Why Family–Controlled Firms Care More about their Stakeholders," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1153-1173, November.
    2. Chan Guo, 2022. "The Impact of Management Succession on Corporate Social Responsibility of Chinese Family Firms: The Moderating Effects of Managerial Economic Motivations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Cisneros, Luis & Deschamps, Bérangère & Chirita, Gabriel M. & Geindre, Sébastien, 2022. "Successful family firm succession: Transferring external social capital to a shared-leadership team of siblings," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    4. Ilhan-Nas, Tulay & Okan, Tarhan & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Demirbag, Mehmet & Wood, Geoffrey & Glaister, Keith W., 2018. "Board composition, family ownership, institutional distance and the foreign equity ownership strategies of Turkish MNEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 862-879.
    5. Huimin Li & Harley E. Ryan, 2022. "Founding family ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the evolution of family ownership and firm policies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7-8), pages 1391-1424, July.
    6. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    7. Avinash Ghalke & Arunima Haldar & Satish Kumar, 2023. "Family firm ownership and its impact on performance: evidence from an emerging market," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 493-512, February.
    8. Charles Sawyer W. & B. Wooster Rossitza & R. Blanco Luisa, 2015. "Does Experience Matter for Patterns of Expansion by US Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean?," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 1-24, March.
    9. Siah Hwee Ang & Mirko H. Benischke & Jonathan P. Doh, 2015. "The interactions of institutions on foreign market entry mode," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1536-1553, October.
    10. Kalin Pipatanantakurn & Vichita Vathanophas Ractham, 2022. "The Role of Knowledge Creation and Transfer in Family Firm Succession," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Eduardo L. Giménez & José Antonio Novo, 2020. "A Theory of Succession in Family Firms," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 96-120, March.
    12. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    13. Lévesque, Moren & Subramanian, Annapoornima M., 2022. "Family firm succession through the lens of technology intelligence," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    14. Nason, Robert S. & Carney, Michael & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny, 2019. "Who cares about socioemotional wealth? SEW and rentier perspectives on the one percent wealthiest business households," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 144-158.
    15. Mondal, Arindam & Ray, Sougata & Lahiri, Somnath, 2022. "Family ownership, family management, and multinationality: Evidence from India," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 347-359.
    16. Martínez-García, Irma & Basco, Rodrigo & Gómez-Ansón, Silvia, 2021. "Dancing with giants: Contextualizing state and family ownership effects on firm performance in the Gulf Cooperation Council," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4).
    17. Reddy, Krishna & Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa, 2023. "Effects of family ownership and family management on the performance of entrepreneurial firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Doddy Setiawan & Andi Asrihapsari & Rayenda Khresna Brahmana & Harumi Puspa Rizky & Mega Wahyu Widawati & A. Dionisio, 2022. "Role of Family Ownership in the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2022, pages 1-9, April.
    19. Anna Marie Dyhr Ulrich & Svend Hollensen & Britta Boyd, 2014. "Entry Mode Strategies into the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) Markets," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 15(3), pages 423-445, September.
    20. Maury, Benjamin, 2006. "Family ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Western European corporations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 321-341, January.
    21. Maria Cristina Sestu & Antonio Majocchi, 2020. "Family Firms and the Choice Between Wholly Owned Subsidiaries and Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(2), pages 211-232, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Xu, Kai & Hitt, Michael A. & Dai, Li, 2020. "International diversification of family-dominant firms: Integrating socioemotional wealth and behavioral theory of the firm," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    2. Lorenzo Ardito & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Federica Pascucci & Enzo Peruffo, 2019. "Inter‐firm R&D collaborations and green innovation value: The role of family firms' involvement and the moderating effects of proximity dimensions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 185-197, January.
    3. Réal Labelle & Taïeb Hafsi & Claude Francoeur & Walid Ben Amar, 2018. "Family Firms’ Corporate Social Performance: A Calculated Quest for Socioemotional Wealth," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 511-525, March.
    4. Cambrea, Domenico Rocco & Ponomareva, Yuliya & Pittino, Daniel & Minichilli, Alessandro, 2022. "Strings attached: Socioemotional wealth mixed gambles in the cash management choices of family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    5. Jean-Luc Arregle & Francesco Chirico & Liena Kano & Sumit K. Kundu & Antonio Majocchi & William S. Schulze, 2021. "Family firm internationalization: Past research and an agenda for the future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(6), pages 1159-1198, August.
    6. Anaïs Hamelin, 2013. "Influence of family ownership on small business growth. Evidence from French SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 563-579, October.
    7. Rehman, Atiqa & Gonenc, Halit & Hermes, Niels, 2023. "Corporate social performance of family firms and shareholder protection: An international analysis," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    8. Tsao, Chiung-Wen & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny & Chen, Shyh-Jer, 2021. "Firing managers: The benefits of family ownership and costs of family management," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    9. Breton-Miller, Isabelle Le & Miller, Danny, 2016. "Family firms and practices of sustainability: A contingency view," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 26-33.
    10. Praet, Alain, 2013. "Family firms and the divestment decision: An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 34-41.
    11. Sarkar, Jayati & Selarka, Ekta, 2021. "Women on board and performance of family firms: Evidence from India," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    12. Chih-Yang Tseng, 2020. "Family firms and long-term orientation of SG&A expenditures," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1181-1206, November.
    13. Mike W. Peng & Wei Sun & Cristina Vlas & Alessandro Minichilli & Guido Corbetta, 2018. "An Institution-Based View of Large Family Firms: A Recap and Overview," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 187-205, March.
    14. Anderson, Ronald W. & Hamadi, Malika, 2009. "Large powerful shareholders and cash holding," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24422, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Johan Eklund & Johanna Palmberg & Daniel Wiberg, 2013. "Inherited corporate control and returns on investment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 419-431, August.
    16. Vincenzo Scafarto & Federica Ricci & Elisabetta Magnaghi & Salvatore Ferri, 2021. "Board structure and intellectual capital efficiency: does the family firm status matter?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 841-878, September.
    17. Mikel Alayo & Txomin Iturralde & Amaia Maseda & Gloria Aparicio, 2021. "Mapping family firm internationalization research: bibliometric and literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1517-1560, August.
    18. Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J. & Usero, Belen, 2014. "How may the nature of family firms explain the decisions concerning international diversification?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1311-1320.
    19. Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2016. "Family Firms and Productivity: The Role of Institutional Quality," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 343-343, September.
    20. Inmaculada Aguiar-Diaz & María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorquí & Lourdes Trujillo, 2020. "Ownership structure and financial performance of Spanish port service companies," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 674-698, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10674-:d:1188262. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.