Family Involvement, Family Essence, and Family-Centered Non-Economic and Economic Goals in Chinese Family Firms: A Replication Study

Using a sample of 409 Chinese family businesses, we replicate and extend an influential study undertaken by Chrisman et al. (2012). Consistent with Chrisman et al. (2012), we confirm the bridging position of family essence in transforming family influence into family-centered non-economic goals in business. We also found that the theoretical model of Chrisman et al. (2012) can be used to explain the prevalence and magnitude of family-centered economic goals in Chinese family firms. In addition, we explore the impact of external regional differences and internal firm conditions in affecting the causal relationships among family involvement, family essence, and family-centered goals.