Cross-national empirical analysis finds CEO entrenchment weakens social initiatives across global firms, highlighting family ownership as an essential governance buffer.
This article examines whether CEO entrenchment and the accumulation of power negatively impact long-term social legacy-building practices. Utilizing data from 2,637 firms across 80 countries, we find that power-motivated CEOs undermine both the practice and continuity of these social initiatives. However, our findings suggest that ownership structures—specifically family involvement—serve as a vital internal governance mechanism. By monitoring executive behavior, family involvement mitigates the detrimental effects of CEO entrenchment on social legacy-building practices. These results underscore the critical role of ownership-based governance in aligning CEO actions with long-term firm goals.
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Riera et al. (2026) studied this question.
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