管理评论 ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (7): 166-177.

• 组织行为与人力资源管理 • 上一篇    下一篇

中国民营企业“子承父业”现象——基于关系文化视角的实证研究

刘建军1, 龙小宁1,2, 岳阳3   

  1. 1. 厦门大学知识产权研究院, 厦门 361005;
    2. 厦门大学“一带一路”研究院, 厦门 361005;
    3. 厦门大学经济学院/王亚南经济研究院, 厦门 361005
  • 收稿日期:2023-06-25 发布日期:2025-07-30
  • 作者简介:刘建军,厦门大学知识产权研究院博士研究生;龙小宁,厦门大学知识产权研究院、厦门大学“一带一路”研究院教授,博士生导师,博士;岳阳(通讯作者),厦门大学经济学院、王亚南经济研究院副教授,博士生导师,博士。
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金面上项目(72073114)。

Exploring Inheritance Patterns in Chinese Private Enterprises: An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Relational Culture

Liu Jianjun1, Long Xiaoning1,2, Yue Yang3   

  1. 1. The Intellectual Property Research Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005;
    2. The Belt and Road Research Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005;
    3. School of Economics and Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005
  • Received:2023-06-25 Published:2025-07-30

摘要: 本文从“关系文化”视角出发,探讨中国民营企业“子承父业”现象的内在逻辑。本文构建了城市层面的“关系文化”强度指标,并与中国私营企业调查数据库中关于子女继承问题的数据相结合,以进行实证分析。结果显示,在“关系文化”较强的地区,民营企业家更倾向于让子女接管企业。异质性分析揭示,对于经营时间较长、企业家拥有政治地位的企业,城市“关系文化”对企业家选择子女接管企业的意愿影响较大;相反,在科技研发能力强、成长空间大的企业,所在地“关系文化”的影响较小。此外,相较于中西部城市,东部沿海省份的城市“关系文化”影响更小。通过使用工具变量回归应对潜在内生性问题,实证结论依然稳健。实证结果支持以下观点:在依赖关系文化运营的民营企业中,“子承父业”成为保护企业社会关系资本的必然制度选择,关系文化价值越高,这种安排越常见。因此,为改变“子承父业”现象及其负面影响,需构建清廉政商关系与法治化营商环境,以推动民营经济高质量发展。

关键词: 民营企业, 家族企业, 关系文化, 子承父业

Abstract: This research, through the lens of “relational culture”, investigates the inherent logic behind the “family business succession” phenomenon in Chinese private enterprises. We develop a city-level “relational culture” intensity index and combine it with data from a survey on succession issues in Chinese private enterprises for empirical analysis. The results indicate that in areas with a strong “relational culture”, private entrepreneurs are more likely to hand over their businesses to their children. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that for businesses with a long operating history or entrepreneurs possessing political status, the city’s “relational culture” significantly influences the entrepreneur’s preference for their children to take over the business. Conversely, in companies with strong technology R&D capabilities and significant growth potential, the influence of local “relational culture” is less. Additionally, cities in the eastern coastal provinces exhibit a lesser influence of “relational culture” compared to those in the central and western regions. The empirical conclusion remains robust after addressing potential endogeneity issues using instrumental variable regression. The empirical results support the view that in private enterprises that rely on relational culture, “family business succession” becomes an inevitable institutional choice to protect the enterprise’s social relationship capital; the higher the value of relational culture is, the more common this arrangement is. Therefore, to mitigate the “family business succession” phenomenon and its adverse impacts, it is necessary to establish transparent government-business relations and a rule-of-law business environment to promote high-quality development of the private economy.

Key words: private enterprises, family business, relational culture, family business succession