Family Ties and Organizational Design: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms
51 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2010
Date Written: June 2010
Abstract
Analyzing data from a unique survey of managers of Chinese private firms, we investigate how family ties with firm heads affect managerial compensation and job assignment. We find that family managers earn higher salaries and receive more bonuses, hold higher positions, and are given more decision rights and job responsibilities than non-family managers in the same firm. However, family managers face weaker incentives than professional managers as seen in the lower sensitivity of their bonuses to firm performance. Our findings are consistent with the predictions of a principal-agent model that incorporates family trust and endogenous job assignment decisions. We show that alternative explanations, such as taste-based favoritism, succession concerns, and unobserved ability or risk attitudes, are unlikely to drive our results.
Keywords: authority, China, family firm, incentives
JEL Classification: D64, D86, L23, M52
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?
By Lucia Foster, John Haltiwanger, ...
-
Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?
By Lucia Foster, John Haltiwanger, ...
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By John Van Reenen and Nicholas Bloom
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, ...
-
Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance
By Morten Bennedsen, Kasper Meisner Nielsen, ...
-
Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance
By Morten Bennedsen, Kasper Meisner Nielsen, ...