Family business origin and investment preference: An empirical study of imprinting theory

Family businesses in China differ acutely with respect to their historical origins. The initial institutional differences based on their origins affect investment behavior, which then impacts on the real economy. This paper investigates how the origins of family businesses affect their investment preferences. Using data on Chinese family firms for the period 2009–2021, we find that family businesses restructured by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) make more financial investments than those established through entrepreneurial activities. The period during which the business is under the control of the founding family and intergenerational succession moderates the differences in investment preferences between restructured and entrepreneurial family businesses, while the time of being as an SOE can strengthen the differences. Mechanism tests demonstrate that restructured family firms (RFFs) participate in less risky activities than entrepreneurial family firms (EFFs), suggesting that preference imprinting contributes to divergent investments. Such a divergence is unlikely to be driven by differences in entrepreneurship, agency costs, or resource endowments. Following robustness tests and after overcoming endogeneity problems, our results remain conclusive. Overall, this study demonstrates that a business’s risk propensity during its founding phase has a long-term impact on future preferences.