Impact of founder controls on digital transformation: evidence from listed family firms in China
研究了中国上市家族企业中创始人控制对数字化转型的影响，发现创始人控制的企业更倾向于推动实质性而非象征性的数字化转型，且这种效应在无国有资本参与、无二代介入和弱儒家文化嵌入的企业中更显著。
Purpose Digital transformation is the key for family firms to gain a competitive advantage in the digital economy. This paper empirically examines the effect of founder control on family firms’ digital transformation from the perspectives of risk-taking and founders’ power. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an unbalanced panel dataset to test the hypotheses using a sample of Chinese A-share listed family firms from 2010 to 2022. Findings Compared to non-founder-controlled firms, founder-controlled family firms are more capable of driving digital transformation and only facilitate substantive transformation rather than symbolic transformation. Mechanism analysis reveals that founder control is associated with a higher inclination for risk-taking and higher power, which leads to a greater willingness and ability to facilitate digital transformation. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that founder control is particularly advantageous for promoting substantive digital transformation in family firms without state capital participation, second-generation involvement and weak Confucian cultural embeddedness. Originality/value To study how family control affects digital transformation, this article splits family enterprises into founder and non-founder control. This study divides digital transformation into substantive and symbolic paths, each with distinctive objectives. This study improves the understanding of family enterprise digital transformation processes and provides policy insights for their digital evolution.