Joint spousal ownership and corporate green innovation: Empirical evidence from family businesses listed on China's A-shares market

Liming Hong; Changhong Zhang; Sajid Anwar; Lijie Wang

doi:10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107107

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Joint spousal ownership and corporate green innovation: Empirical evidence from family businesses listed on China's A-shares market

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Joint spousal ownership and corporate green innovation: Empirical evidence from family businesses listed on China's A-shares market

Liming Hong, Changhong Zhang, Sajid Anwar and Lijie Wang

Economic Modelling, Vol.149, pp.1-14

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107107

Abstract

China

Corporate green innovation

Environmental protection policies

Family businesses

Joint spousal ownership

Using data on Chinese family businesses spanning 2004 to 2022, this paper investigates the impact of joint spousal ownership on green innovation. The findings indicate that firms with joint spousal ownership exhibit significantly higher levels of green innovation compared to those without such ownership structures. This effect is primarily driven by two mechanisms: increased female executive representation and improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Notably, joint spousal ownership has a more pronounced influence on green innovation than on traditional innovation, suggesting a stronger alignment with proactive environmental policies. Further analysis identifies moderating factors that enhance green innovation, including intergenerational succession planning, harmonious spousal relationships, long-term business goals, a focus on light industry, and limited involvement of other family members. Overall, this paper provides novel empirical evidence on how joint spousal ownership shapes strategic decision-making in family businesses, particularly in the context of sustainable development and global green economic trends.

Details

Title: Joint spousal ownership and corporate green innovation: Empirical evidence from family businesses listed on China's A-shares market
Authors: Liming Hong - Xiamen University of Technology
Changhong Zhang (Corresponding Author) - Xiamen University of Technology
Sajid Anwar - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
Lijie Wang - Fujian University of Technology
Publication details: Economic Modelling, Vol.149, pp.1-14
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107107
ISSN: 1873-6122
Data Availability: Data will be made available on request.
Grant note: The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Xiamen, China (3502Z202373068), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72103129, No. 72473097), the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education in China (No. 20YJCZH117), and the Social Science Foundation of Fujian, China (FJ2024B034).
Organisation Unit: School of Business and Creative Industries; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991122004602621
Output Type: Journal article