IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4395-d1654173.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family Firms’ Exploratory Innovation in Relaxation and Urgency Environments: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Yushu Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100044, China)

  • Fangcheng Tang

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Caiting Dong

    (School of Business Administration, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China)

  • Fushang Cui

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100044, China)

Abstract

The innovation behavior of family firms has long been a focal point in both academic research and practical applications. Based on the socioemotional wealth theory, this study aims to empirically analyze the differences in exploratory innovation between family and non-family firms while exploring how internal and external environmental factors, namely overperformance duration and industrial competition, moderate this relationship. We conducted an empirical analysis using data from manufacturing firms listed on China’s A-share market from 2009 to 2018. The results indicate that family firms exhibited a lower propensity for exploratory innovation compared to that of non-family firms. Furthermore, the negative relationship between family firms and exploratory innovation was more pronounced in relaxed internal environments characterized by overperformance duration, while this negative relationship was alleviated in urgent external environments marked by intense industrial competition. This study contributes a fresh perspective to the literature on family firm innovation and provides valuable insights for policymakers and family firm managers seeking to enhance innovation competitiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Yushu Zhang & Fangcheng Tang & Caiting Dong & Fushang Cui, 2025. "Family Firms’ Exploratory Innovation in Relaxation and Urgency Environments: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-18, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4395-:d:1654173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4395/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4395/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4395-:d:1654173. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.