IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i24p16626-d1000865.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Management Succession on Corporate Social Responsibility of Chinese Family Firms: The Moderating Effects of Managerial Economic Motivations

Author

Listed:
  • Chan Guo

    (School of Economics, Henan University, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

Abstract

Because the establishment of private enterprises has been allowed by the Chinese government since the 1980s, management successions have occurred in a large number of Chinese family firms in recent years. Grounded in upper echelons theory and considering the generational differences between founders and successors, it is expected that the initiation of a within-family succession will lead to significant changes in firms’ CSR strategies. Applying the difference-in-difference method, the results suggest that family firms having initiated successions have better CSR performance relative to those that have not initiated successions and succession firms prior to the initiation of successions. The paper further finds that not all post-succession family firms demonstrate homogeneity in terms of CSR. The impact of succession on firms’ CSR is more pronounced for succession family firms with debt financing plans and politically connected successors. This paper contributes to the manager-effect literature, family firm CSR research and management succession studies, and it is also useful to policy makers of Chinese government.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16626-:d:1000865
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16626/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16626/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    2. Leuz, Christian & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 2006. "Political relationships, global financing, and corporate transparency: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 411-439, August.
    3. McConaughy, Daniel L. & Walker, Michael C. & Henderson, Glenn Jr. & Mishra, Chandra S., 1998. "Founding family controlled firms: Efficiency and value," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19.
    4. Yasuhiro Yamakawa & Mike W. Peng & David L. Deeds, 2008. "What Drives New Ventures to Internationalize from Emerging to Developed Economies?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(1), pages 59-82, January.
    5. Yang, Yefei & Lau, Antonio K.W. & Lee, Peter K.C. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2020. "The performance implication of corporate social responsibility in matched Chinese small and medium-sized buyers and suppliers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. Smith, Brian F. & Amoako-Adu, Ben, 1999. "Management succession and financial performance of family controlled firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 341-368, December.
    7. 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.
    8. Daniel L. McConaughy & Michael C. Walker & Glenn V. Henderson & Chandra S. Mishra, 1998. "Founding family controlled firms: Efficiency and value," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19.
    9. Madden, Laura & McMillan, Amy & Harris, Oneil, 2020. "Drivers of selectivity in family firms: Understanding the impact of age and ownership on CSR," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    10. Carney, Michael & Zhao, Jing & Zhu, Limin, 2019. "Lean innovation: Family firm succession and patenting strategy in a dynamic institutional landscape," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(4).
    11. Jing Zhao & Michael Carney & Shubo Zhang & Limin Zhu, 2020. "How does an intra-family succession effect strategic change and performance in China’s family firms?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 363-389, June.
    12. Xu, Nianhang & Yuan, Qingbo & Jiang, Xuanyu & Chan, Kam C., 2015. "Founder's political connections, second generation involvement, and family firm performance: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 243-259.
    13. Oleksandr Talavera & Lin Xiong & Xiong Xiong, 2012. "Social Capital and Access to Bank Financing: The Case of Chinese Entrepreneurs," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 55-69, January.
    14. Sinziana Dorobantu & Kate Odziemkowska, 2017. "Valuing Stakeholder Governance: Property Rights, Community Mobilization, and Firm Value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(13), pages 2682-2703, December.
    15. Lin, Karen Jingrong & Tan, Jinsong & Zhao, Liming & Karim, Khondkar, 2015. "In the name of charity: Political connections and strategic corporate social responsibility in a transition economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 327-346.
    16. Lu Xing & Tinghua Duan & Wenxuan Hou, 2019. "Do Board Secretaries Influence Management Earnings Forecasts?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 537-574, January.
    17. Rania Beji & Ouidad Yousfi & Nadia Loukil & Abdelwahed Omri, 2020. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Post-Print hal-03029297, HAL.
    18. Danglun Luo & Qianwei Ying, 2014. "Political Connections and Bank Lines of Credit," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(03), pages 5-21, May.
    19. Mikko Manner, 2010. "The Impact of CEO Characteristics on Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 53-72, June.
    20. Danglun Luo & Qianwei Ying, 2014. "Political Connections and Bank Lines of Credit," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S3), pages 5-21.
    21. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    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. 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.

    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, Nianhang & Yuan, Qingbo & Jiang, Xuanyu & Chan, Kam C., 2015. "Founder's political connections, second generation involvement, and family firm performance: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 243-259.
    2. Chan Guo, 2022. "Sustainable Development of Chinese Family Firms: A Perspective from Downward Earnings Management before Successions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Boateng, Agyenim & Liu, Yang & Brahma, Sanjukta, 2019. "Politically connected boards, ownership structure and credit risk: Evidence from Chinese commercial banks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 162-173.
    4. Huang, Haijie & Lee, Edward & Lyu, Changjiang & Zhao, Yiyi, 2020. "Bequest motive, information transparency, and family firm value: A natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    6. Banerji, Sanjay & Duygun, Meryem & Shaban, Mohamed, 2018. "Political connections, bailout in financial markets and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 388-401.
    7. Swanpitak, Tanapond & Pan, Xiaofei & Suardi, Sandy, 2020. "The value of family control during political uncertainty: Evidence from Thailand's constitutional change in 201411We are grateful for helpful comments and suggestions provided by Shu-Ching Chou, Wooch," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    8. Weng, Tzu-Ching & Chi, Hsin-Yi, 2019. "Family succession and business diversification: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 56-81.
    9. Bennedsen, Morten & Mehrotra, Vikas & Shim, Jungwook & Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 2020. "Dynastic Control without Ownership: Evidence from Post-war Japan," CEPR Discussion Papers 15398, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. 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.
    11. Sadeen Ghafoor & Weidong Huo & Man Wang & Yunjiang Geng & Muhammad Zulfiqar & Muhammad Usman Yousaf, 2024. "Unique types and innovation input of family firm CEOs: moderating role of managerial ability in Chinese listed firms," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Jintao Zhang & Zhen Yang & Li Meng & Lu Han, 2022. "Environmental regulations and enterprises innovation performance: the role of R&D investments and political connections," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4088-4109, March.
    13. Chune Young Chung & Jung Hoon Byun & Jason Young, 2019. "Corporate Political Ties and Firm Value: Comparative Analysis in the Korean Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-25, January.
    14. Nan Zhang & Qiaozhuan Liang & Huiying Li & Xiao Wang, 2022. "The organizational relationship–based political connection and debt financing: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 69-105, January.
    15. Ufuk Akcigit & Salomé Baslandze & Francesca Lotti, 2023. "Connecting to Power: Political Connections, Innovation, and Firm Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 529-564, March.
    16. Pan, Yue & Weng, Ruoyu & Xu, Nianhang & Chan, Kam C., 2018. "The role of corporate philanthropy in family firm succession: A social outreach perspective," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 423-441.
    17. Hwang, Sunwoo & Kim, Woochan, 2014. "When Heirs Become Major Shareholders: Evidence on Tunneling and Succession through Related-Party Transactions," MPRA Paper 56487, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Chen, Shimin & Sun, Zheng & Tang, Song & Wu, Donghui, 2011. "Government intervention and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 259-271, April.
    19. Emmanuelle Nys & Amine Tarazi & Irwan Trinugroho, 2013. "Political Connections, Bank Deposits, and Formal Deposit Insurance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Papers hal-00916513, HAL.
    20. Li, Guoping & Zhou, Hong, 2015. "Political connections and access to IPO markets in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 76-93.

    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:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16626-:d:1000865. 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.