Intergenerational power gap and R&D investment: Evidence from China

Family firms face the dual challenge of succession and innovation. Based on the attention-based view, this study empirically investigates the effect of intergenerational power gap on corporate R&D investment, using a sample of Chinese listed family firms. We find that intergenerational power gap has a negative effect on corporate R&D investment, and this negative relationship is amplified in traditional industries and in firms with a low proportion of institutional ownership. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for R&D investment in the family business succession process.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. on behalf of Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)