Bellwether Effects? A Family Firm's Leading Position in an Industry and Green Strategies

Abstract

Abstract:

After years of heavy industrialization, China's environmental challenges are nearing a tipping point and the Chinese government is committed to developing green strategies. Family firms as an important driver of Chinese private economy play an important role in affecting the whole country's green innovation effectiveness. On the basis of stakeholder theory, social emotional wealth and social network theories, this paper examines the relationship between family firm's leading industrial position and green strategies and also explores the moderating effects of both second generation's succession willingness and business ties. The results show that a leading family firm in an industry is more likely to adopt green strategies because of the bellwether effects. Moreover, second generation's succession willingness strengths the positive effects of firm's leading industrial position on green strategies because second generations are more willing to preserve long-term assets such as reputation. Furthermore, family firms with weak business ties are more likely to take the advantages of leading position in an industry to achieve green innovation. The main logic is that weak business ties creates a flexible environment for family firm's green innovation cooperation with other businesses and facilitates environmental knowledge transfer.

Key words: leading position in an industry, green strategies, second generation's succession willingness, business ties, family firms

Lv Feifiei, Zhu Lina, Gao Hao, He Xiaogang. Bellwether Effects? A Family Firm's Leading Position in an Industry and Green Strategies[J]. , 2020, 32(3): 252-264.

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