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This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.

This study’s analysis is based on three aspects. First, the authors consider three main non-economic goals and priorities of FFs: the family’s relationship with employees (read as to care for their satisfaction and well-being); the inner pride of building and maintaining the family and firm image and reputation; and the inner feeling to be socially responsible. Second, the authors consider how these goals and priorities vary among FFs according to four dimensions: family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, the involvement of young successors, and the presence of founding and later generations. Finally, the consequences of automation are considered: lower firm employment, lower employees’ satisfaction and well-being, and higher firm productivity. The analysis is based on a sample of 4,150 Italian firms.

The analysis revealed that FFs are less prone to innovate in automation than non-FFs. Specifically, family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, and the presence of founding generation are negatively associated with innovation in automation. Instead, the involvement of young successors and the presence of later generation are positively associated with innovation in automation.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation that, based on SEW, examines how FFs act on the decision to innovate in automation, thereby providing empirical evidence.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of chief executive officer (CEO) succession on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and whether the characteristics of the incoming CEO, in terms of both gender and career horizon, are able to affect the relationship between CEO succession and ESG score.

The paper investigates a sample of European-listed companies between 2010 and 2021. Difference-in-difference and fixed-effects regressions are employed as the base empirical methodology. In addition, the robustness of the empirical findings is assessed by employing alternative methodologies and a different ESG proxy.

The empirical findings show the existence of a positive link between CEO succession and ESG performance and that this relationship is affected by two characteristics of the incoming CEO. Specifically, the empirical evidence indicates that the positive effect is magnified by the gender and the career horizon of the incoming CEO.

Considering the lack of research, this paper is the first one that opens a debate about the effects of CEO succession on corporate ESG performance in several European countries. By employing a unique sample of European listed firms, which has never been examined in other empirical research, this study highlights the importance of the demographic features of the incoming CEOs that should be taken into consideration during their selection process.