Zhang Wei, Wu Bingde, Chen Ling, Zhu Jian-An, Chen Shihui
School of Management, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, China.
School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 18;16:1538103. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1538103. eCollection 2025.
The coexistence of non-economic and economic goals is a prominent feature of family firms. However, does the pursuit of non-economic goals necessarily imply that the economic goals should be sacrificed? Our research addresses this question by exploring the symbiotic or competitive relationship between non-economic goals and economic goals in Chinese family firms, and the moderating effect of firm size and firm age.
Based on 2877 firm-year observations of Chinese listed family firms from year 2009 to 2019, this paper examines the relationship between non-economic goals (measured by family management) and economic goals (measured by firm performance). A panel data fixed-effects regression model was employed for the primary analysis. To further ensure the credibility of our conclusions, we performed several robustness tests, such as utilizing alternative variable measurement and conducting an endogeneity test.
The empirical analysis revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between family management and firm performance, where the extent to which non-economic goals are positively related to economic goals up to a point, after the turning point it becomes negative, which shows the trend from symbiosis to competition. Furthermore, as firm age increases and firm size expands, the inverted U-shaped curve flattens, and the turning point shifts to the right.
Employing a willingness and ability perspective, this research contributes to the socioemotional wealth (SEW) framework by offering insights into the dynamic interplay between economic and non-economic goals in Chinese family firms. Moreover, by examining Chinese family firms influenced by Confucian values, our study highlights the importance of cultural context for generalizability, while simultaneously enriching SEW discourse and fostering avenues for cross-regional comparative analysis.
非经济目标与经济目标并存是家族企业的一个显著特征。然而，追求非经济目标是否必然意味着要牺牲经济目标呢？我们的研究通过探讨中国家族企业中非经济目标与经济目标之间的共生或竞争关系，以及企业规模和企业年龄的调节作用来解决这个问题。
基于2009年至2019年中国上市家族企业的2877个公司年度观察数据，本文考察了非经济目标（以家族管理衡量）与经济目标（以企业绩效衡量）之间的关系。主要分析采用面板数据固定效应回归模型。为了进一步确保我们结论的可信度，我们进行了多项稳健性检验，如采用替代变量测量和进行内生性检验。
实证分析揭示了家族管理与企业绩效之间呈倒U形关系，即非经济目标在一定程度上与经济目标呈正相关，转折点之后则变为负相关，这显示了从共生到竞争的趋势。此外，随着企业年龄的增长和企业规模的扩大，倒U形曲线变得平缓，转折点向右移动。
本研究从意愿和能力的角度出发，通过深入了解中国家族企业中经济目标与非经济目标之间的动态相互作用，为社会情感财富（SEW）框架做出了贡献。此外，通过研究受儒家价值观影响的中国家族企业，我们的研究强调了文化背景对普遍性的重要性，同时丰富了SEW的论述，并为跨区域比较分析开辟了道路。
