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Heir to the Throne: Perceived Child-successors’ Willingness and Parent-incumbents’ Corporate Philanthropy in Family Firms

Ruijie Jin et al.

Management and Organization Review2026https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2025.10114article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The behavior of parent-incumbents depends not only on their own intention to hand over the family firm but also on their child-successors’ willingness to take over. Drawing on socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory, we develop a model of the impact of perceived child-successors’ willingness on parent-incumbents’ corporate philanthropy prior to succession. We argue that perceived child-successors’ willingness increases parent-incumbents’ transgenerational succession anticipation and the resulting desire to preserve SEW, which in turn motivates them to engage more in corporate philanthropy. However, parent-incumbents facing a greater threat of state expropriation engage less in philanthropy, as they anticipate a lower likelihood of successful transgenerational succession. Using data from a national survey of Chinese family firms, we find support for our hypotheses. Our findings highlight the significance of internal succession anticipation and its interplay with the external institutional environment in shaping family firm philanthropy.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2025.10114

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@article{ruijie2026,
  title        = {{Heir to the Throne: Perceived Child-successors’ Willingness and Parent-incumbents’ Corporate Philanthropy in Family Firms}},
  author       = {Ruijie Jin et al.},
  journal      = {Management and Organization Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2025.10114},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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