Does the well-matched marriage of successor affect the intergenerational inheritance of family business?

The mainstream type of intergenerational inheritance of family firms in China is typically based on the "son inheriting his father's business" model. However, the current research on the intergenerational inheritance of family businesses mainly focuses on the impact of the personal capabilities of the successor, rather than the successor's interpersonal relationships such as marriage. This paper uses literature analysis and case studies to study the impact of the successor's marriage on the family business by refining the indicators of what constitutes a well-matched marriage. The findings show that the marriage of the second generation has a significant impact on the intergenerational inheritance of the family business, as such marriage helps to expand the social capital of the second generation of the family and improve the performance of the business.

Lixia Wang, Xi Ye, Yutong Fu, Xin Zhang