Position matters: The contingent value of kin ties in entrepreneurial firms
研究创业企业中亲属在管理团队不同职能岗位的分布如何影响企业绩效，发现亲属在风控岗位（如财务、采购）有利，在创新岗位（如研发、生产）不利。
Entrepreneurial firms frequently rely on kin members, yet prior studies offer mixed evidence on whether such involvement helps or harms performance. We addressed this inconsistency by examining how the influence of kin ties depends on their positions within functionally differentiated management teams. Moving beyond treating kin involvement as a binary condition, we adopt a structural contingency perspective that considers the allocation of kin ties across distinct functional positions. We argue that the relational and informational effects of kin ties—reducing agency costs and enhancing coordination, but also introducing redundancy and limiting cognitive diversity—vary systematically by position. Using nationally representative data from Chinese entrepreneurial firms, we find that kin involvement in risk-control-oriented positions (for example, finance, procurement) is positively associated with performance, whereas kin involvement in innovation-driven-oriented positions (for example, R&D, production) is negatively associated with performance. These position-contingent effects demonstrate that the structure—not merely the presence—of kin involvement is central to understanding entrepreneurial outcomes.