IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v48y2024i3p763-787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Liability of Ownership Origin, Corporate Philanthropy, and Desire for Control in Chinese Family Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Ruijie Jin
  • Helen Wei Hu

Abstract

Many family firms trace the origin of their property rights to the privatization of state-owned enterprises, particularly in emerging economies. The benefits of such ownership origins have been amply researched; however, there are also disadvantages. By developing the concept of the liability of ownership origin, we theorize that this liability creates legitimacy challenges for privatized family firms, leading their owners to exhibit a lower desire for both family and transgenerational control compared to de novo family firms. However, corporate philanthropy can mitigate these negative effects. Empirical analyses using a national survey of Chinese family-owned firms support our arguments.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruijie Jin & Helen Wei Hu, 2024. "Liability of Ownership Origin, Corporate Philanthropy, and Desire for Control in Chinese Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(3), pages 763-787, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:48:y:2024:i:3:p:763-787
    DOI: 10.1177/10422587231226111
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10422587231226111
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10422587231226111?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Min Zhang & Lijun Ma & Jun Su & Wen Zhang, 2014. "Do Suppliers Applaud Corporate Social Performance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 543-557, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Denisova, Irina & Eller, Markus & Frye, Timothy & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2009. "Who Wants To Revise Privatization? The Complementarity of Market Skills and Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 284-304, May.
    4. Valentina Marano & Peter Tashman & Tatiana Kostova, 2017. "Escaping the iron cage: Liabilities of origin and CSR reporting of emerging market multinational enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 386-408, April.
    5. Schmidt, Klaus M., 2000. "The political economy of mass privatization and the risk of expropriation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 393-421, February.
    6. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    7. Zhang, Lin & Xu, Yuehua & Chen, Honghui & Jing, Runtian, 2020. "Corporate Philanthropy After Fraud Punishment: An Institutional Perspective," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 33-68, February.
    8. Alberto Chong & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America : Myths and Reality," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 7461, September.
      • Florencio López-de-Silanes & Pablo Serra & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky & Francisco Anuatti & Sebastián Galiani & Alberto E. Chong & Carlos Pombo & Federico Sturzenegger & Máximo Torero & Carlo, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America: Myths and Reality," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 59618 edited by Florencio López-de-Silanes & Alberto E. Chong, February.
    9. Yannick Bammens & Paul Hünermund & Petra Andries, 2022. "Pursuing Gains or Avoiding Losses: The Contingent Effect of Transgenerational Intentions on Innovation Investments," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1493-1530, September.
    10. Xingqiang Du, 2017. "Religious Belief, Corporate Philanthropy, and Political Involvement of Entrepreneurs in Chinese Family Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 385-406, May.
    11. Fan Xia & Gordon Walker, 2015. "How much does owner type matter for firm performance? Manufacturing firms in China 1998–2007," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 576-585, April.
    12. Denisova, Irina & Eller, Markus & Frye, Timothy & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2012. "Everyone hates privatization, but why? Survey evidence from 28 post-communist countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 44-61.
    13. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2008. "Political connections of newly privatized firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 654-673, December.
    14. Hongbin Li & Lingsheng Meng & Junsen Zhang, 2006. "Why Do Entrepreneurs Enter Politics? Evidence from China," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 559-578, July.
    15. Saul Estrin & Jan Hanousek & Evzen Kocenda & Jan Svejnar, 2009. "The Effects of Privatization and Ownership in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 699-728, September.
    16. Li, Weiwen & Au, Kevin Yuk-fai & He, Ai & Song, Lihong, 2015. "Why Do Family-controlled Firms Donate to Charity? The Role of Intrafamily Succession Intention, Social Status, and Religiosity," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 621-644, December.
    17. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    18. Christian Hoffmann & Peter Jaskiewicz & Torsten Wulf & James G. Combs, 2019. "The Effect of Transgenerational Control Intention on Family-Firm Performance: It Depends Who Pursues It," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 629-646, May.
    19. Martimort, David & Straub, Stéphane, 2009. "Infrastructure privatization and changes in corruption patterns: The roots of public discontent," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 69-84, September.
    20. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "Is Corporate Philanthropy Used as Environmental Misconduct Dressing? Evidence from Chinese Family-Owned Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 341-361, June.
    21. Shen, Na & Su, Jun, 2017. "Religion and succession intention - Evidence from Chinese family firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 150-161.
    22. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    23. Chernykh, Lucy, 2011. "Profit or politics? Understanding renationalizations in Russia," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1237-1253.
    24. Batjargal, Bat, 2007. "Comparative Social Capital: Networks of Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists in China and Russia," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 397-419, November.
    25. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2013. "Family Firm Governance, Strategic Conformity, and Performance: Institutional vs. Strategic Perspectives," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 189-209, February.
    26. Peter Tashman & Valentina Marano & Tatiana Kostova, 2019. "Walking the walk or talking the talk? Corporate social responsibility decoupling in emerging market multinationals," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(2), pages 153-171, March.
    27. Ilona Szőcs & Bodo B. Schlegelmilch & Thomas Rusch & Hamed M. Shamma, 2016. "Linking cause assessment, corporate philanthropy, and corporate reputation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 376-396, May.
    28. Thomas M. Zellweger & Franz W. Kellermanns & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua, 2012. "Family Control and Family Firm Valuation by Family CEOs: The Importance of Intentions for Transgenerational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 851-868, June.
    29. repec:idb:brikps:59618 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Guido Palazzo & Andreas Scherer, 2006. "Corporate Legitimacy as Deliberation: A Communicative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 71-88, June.
    31. Sihai Li & Huiying Wu & Xianzhong Song, 2017. "Principal–Principal Conflicts and Corporate Philanthropy: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 605-620, March.
    32. Clay Dibrell & Esra Memili, 2019. "A Brief History and a Look to the Future of Family Business Heterogeneity: An Introduction," Springer Books, in: Esra Memili & Clay Dibrell (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Heterogeneity among Family Firms, chapter 1, pages 1-15, Springer.
    33. Fan Xia & Gordon Walker, 2015. "How much does owner type matter for firm performance? Manufacturing firms in China 1998-2007," Post-Print hal-04088628, HAL.
    34. Raymond Fisman & Yongxiang Wang, 2015. "Corruption in Chinese Privatizations," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-29.
    35. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    36. Cynthia E. Devers & Todd Dewett & Yuri Mishina & Carrie A. Belsito, 2009. "A General Theory of Organizational Stigma," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 154-171, February.
    37. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo & David Seidl, 2013. "Managing Legitimacy in Complex and Heterogeneous Environments: Sustainable Development in a Globalized World," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 259-284, March.
    38. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Institutions, ownership, and finance: the determinants of profit reinvestment among Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 117-146, July.
    39. Ming Jia & Yi Xiang & Zhe Zhang, 2019. "Indirect Reciprocity and Corporate Philanthropic Giving: How Visiting Officials Influence Investment in Privately Owned Chinese Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 372-407, March.
    40. Ge, Jianhua & Stanley, Laura J. & Eddleston, Kimberly & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2017. "Institutional deterioration and entrepreneurial investment: The role of political connections," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 405-419.
    41. Bertrand, Marianne & Johnson, Simon & Samphantharak, Krislert & Schoar, Antoinette, 2008. "Mixing family with business: A study of Thai business groups and the families behind them," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 466-498, June.
    42. Xiaodong Yu & Laura Stanley & Yuping Li & Kimberly A. Eddleston & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2020. "The Invisible Hand of Evolutionary Psychology: The Importance of Kinship in First-Generation Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(1), pages 134-157, January.
    43. Huang, Zhangkai & Wang, Kun, 2011. "Ultimate privatization and change in firm performance: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 121-132, March.
    44. Heli Wang & Jaepil Choi & Jiatao Li, 2008. "Too Little or Too Much? Untangling the Relationship Between Corporate Philanthropy and Firm Financial Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 143-159, February.
    45. Alberto Chong & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America : Myths and Reality," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7461, December.
    46. Lucia Naldi & Carmelo Cennamo & Guido Corbetta & Luis Gomez–Mejia, 2013. "Preserving Socioemotional Wealth in Family Firms: Asset or Liability? The Moderating Role of Business Context," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1341-1360, November.
    47. Bat Batjargal, 2007. "Comparative Social Capital: Networks of Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists in China and Russia," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 3(3), pages 397-419, November.
    48. D'Souza, Juliet & Megginson, William L. & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao, 2017. "Growth and growth obstacles in transition economies: Privatized versus de novo private firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 422-438.
    49. Radic, Mislav & Ravasi, Davide & Munir, Kamal, 2021. "Privatization: implications of a shift from state to private ownership," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108992, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    50. Jianhua Ge & Michael Carney & Franz Kellermanns, 2019. "Who Fills Institutional Voids? Entrepreneurs’ Utilization of Political and Family Ties in Emerging Markets," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(6), pages 1124-1147, November.
    51. Pan, Xiaofei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Family control and loan collateral: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 53-68.
    52. Zheng, Qinqin & Luo, Yadong & Maksimov, Vladislav, 2015. "Achieving legitimacy through corporate social responsibility: The case of emerging economy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 389-403.
    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. Li, Xinlan & Li, Changhong & Wang, Zhan & Jiao, Wenting & Pang, Yiwen, 2021. "The effect of corporate philanthropy on corporate performance of Chinese family firms: The moderating role of religious atmosphere," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. Li, Xinlan & Li, Changhong & Guo, Xiaoli, 2023. "Environmental practices, family control, and corporate performance: Evidence from Chinese family firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Heli Wang & Ming Jia & Zhe Zhang, 2021. "Good Deeds Done in Silence: Stakeholder Management and Quiet Giving by Chinese Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 649-674, May.
    4. Hanqing “Chevy” Fang & Kulraj Singh & Taewoo Kim & Laura Marler & James J. Chrisman, 2022. "Family business research in Asia: review and future directions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1215-1256, December.
    5. Davila, Jessenia & Duran, Patricio & Gómez-Mejía, Luis & Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J., 2023. "Socioemotional wealth and family firm performance: A meta-analytic integration," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    6. Patricio Duran & Nadine Kammerlander & Marc van Essen & Thomas Zellweger, 2016. "Doing More with Less : Innovation Input and Output in Family Firms," Post-Print hal-02276703, HAL.
    7. Xueru Yang & Jun Li & Laura J. Stanley & Franz W. Kellermanns & Xinchun Li, 2020. "How family firm characteristics affect internationalization of Chinese family SMEs," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 417-448, June.
    8. Liu, Yu & Xu, Jian, 2022. "Residual state ownership, foreign ownership and firms' financing patterns," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    9. Liu, Yaosong & Zhang, Min & Ye, Tingting & Zhang, Yue, 2019. "Does giving always lead to getting? Evidence from the collapse of charity credibility in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    10. 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).
    11. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    12. Jun Chen & Wang Dong & Jamie Tong & Feida Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Philanthropy and Tunneling: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 135-157, June.
    13. Hanqing “Chevy†Fang & James J. Chrisman & Daniel T. Holt, 2021. "Strategic Persistence in Family Business," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 931-950, July.
    14. Aldunate, Felipe & González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & Urzúa, Francisco, 2020. "Privatization and business groups: Evidence from the Chicago Boys in Chile," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Shuxia Zhang & Liping Xu & Ning Liu, 2022. "Crowding‐in and crowding‐out effects of corporate philanthropy on R&D investment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1835-1849, September.
    16. Garanina, Tatiana & Kim, Oksana, 2023. "The relationship between CSR disclosure and accounting conservatism: The role of state ownership," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    17. Piotroski, Joseph D. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Politicians and the IPO decision: The impact of impending political promotions on IPO activity in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 111-136.
    18. Samuel Adomako & Mai Dong Tran, 2024. "Beyond profits: The linkages between local embeddedness, social legitimacy, and corporate philanthropy in the mining industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 555-565, January.
    19. Yan Zuo & Shenyang Jiang & Jiang Wei, 2022. "Can corporate social responsibility mitigate the liability of newness? Evidence from China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 573-592, August.
    20. Magdy Noguera & Erick Paulo Cesar Chang, 2014. "Socio Emotional Wealth Preservation in the REIT Industry: An Exploratory Study," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-20, July.

    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:sae:entthe:v:48:y:2024:i:3:p:763-787. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.