Letter from the Editor

While family businesses have deep roots in Chinese culture, they have experienced ups and downs over the past seven decades after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Private enterprises, including family firms, were first largely dismantled as the economy shifted towards state ownership and control. However, with the initiation of economic reforms in 1978, family businesses revived and flourished, with entrepreneurship emerging in every industry and in every corner of society. Today family businesses are a vital part of China’s economy. 

However, despite a strong linkage between family systems and entrepreneurship in China, systematic theorization and empirical examination are limited. Defining family dynamics as substantial family transitions that often include structural change in the family system and altered relationships (and hierarchies) among family members, this special issue, led by guest editors David Ahlstrom, James Chrisman, Hanqing (Chevy) Fang, and Bin Liu, explores in depth how family dynamics and entrepreneurship are intertwined in China.

After two years of tireless effort from the guest editorial team and the authors, I am proud to present this special issue to you. The seven research papers and one commentary included in this special issue offer many ground-breaking insights related to the relationship between family dynamics and entrepreneurship. Collectively, they provide detailed descriptions about (a) the historical origins of family firms and how changing family dynamics affect these firms’ international investment decisions; (b) the impact of intergenerational capital endowments and parental mentoring on entrepreneurial intentions and operations; and (c) how family governance and family culture influence family firms’ innovation and competitive advantage.

I hope you enjoy every article in this special issue. Thank you for your attention.

Xiao-Ping Chen

Special Issue on ‘Family Dynamics and Entrepreneurship’

Introduction

David Ahlstrom, Hanqing (Chevy) Fang, Bin Liu, and James Chrisman
Family Dynamics and Entrepreneurship in China: An Introduction of the Dual Tuning Model of Temporal Rhythms

Research Articles

Chenguang Hu, Peng Wang, and Jeffrey G. Covin (29pp)
Intergenerational Capital Endowments and External Funding in New Ventures: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Ke Gong, Dustin Odom, and Taewoo Kim (26pp)
Institutional Origin and Chinese Family Firms’ Dot Tax Haven Internationalization

Chia-Ling Lee, Wen-Ting Lin, and Ya-Nan Shih (37pp)
When Do Family Firms Plant Different New Trees? The Role of Family Firms and CSR Committees in Green Innovation

Ganlin Mia Li, Bingbing Ge, and Junsheng Dou (26pp)
Like Father Like Son: How Perceived Parental Mentoring Strategies Shape Successors’ Entrepreneurial Identity in Chinese Family Businesses

Jialin Song, Yiyi Su, Zhujun Ding, Sihong Wu, and Di Fan (24pp)
Family Diversity and Hybrid Entrepreneurship: A Family Embeddedness Perspective

Qi Wu, Yuqing Wang, Hualin Chu, and Junhang Chen (32pp)
Innovation in Family Firms: An Intergenerational Tale of Symbol and Substance

Jing Xi, Jiani Cai, and Xiaojie Wu (25pp)
How Does Family Culture Generate Competitive Advantage for Family Firms? A Case Study from the Affordance Perspective

Vitaliy Skorodziyevskiy (14pp)
Paradox of Family Firms: Comment on Fang, Singh, Kim, Marler, and Chrisman (2022)