Confucianism, successor choice, and firm performance in family firms: Evidence from China

Chen, Mengyuan, Xiao, Jason Zezong and Zhao, Yang 2021. Confucianism, successor choice, and firm performance in family firms: Evidence from China. Journal of Corporate Finance 69 , 102023. 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.102023

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Abstract

This study examines the nexus between Confucianism, the choice of the leadership successor, and firm performance in family firms in China. It provides original evidence that firm founders who are deeply influenced by Confucianism have a higher likelihood of choosing a family member or a guanxi-connected nonfamily member as the successor. Moreover, family/guanxi-connected successors have a positive effect on firm performance compared with their counterparts outside of the family/guanxi circle. One underlying reason is that, affected by Confucianism, only the family/guanxi-connected successors can acquire the founder's specialized assets via pre-succession internal managerial experience, which, in turn, enables them to outperform other successors.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0929-1199
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 September 2022
Date of Acceptance:	19 June 2021
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2023 21:10
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/152612

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