Building on the theory of Burkart et al. (2003) that family ownership and control of firms mitigate the twin conflicts between owners and managers and between majority and minority owners, we suggest that the allocation of firm ownership rights and informal governance within controlling families...

Using a sample of 1,103 Chinese private-sector firms that went public during 2004-2016, we find that founders from the country’s regions with stronger collectivist cultures engage more family members as managers, retain more firm ownership within the family, and share the controlling ownership...