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How the Leader-Team Age Dissimilarity and Leader Power Shape the Entrepreneurial Ventures’ R&D Intensity: Empirical Evidence from China

  • Yaoyi Zheng and Yi Su EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 9, 2022
Entrepreneurship Research Journal
From the journal Entrepreneurship Research Journal Volume 14 Issue 2

Abstract

Contemplating the directionality of age difference between the leaders and their team, the leader-team age dissimilarity can be divided into two categories: leader-team norm-consistent age dissimilarity and leader-team norm-inconsistent age dissimilarity. Previous studies have remained lacking to investigate these two types of age differences and their interactions relationship with leaders’ power under China’s cultural context. This study integrates the theoretical framework of social normative theory and power distance theory, and analyzes the impact of leader-team norm-consistent age dissimilarity and leader-team norm-inconsistent age dissimilarity, and their interaction with leader power on entrepreneurial firms’ research and development (R&D) intensity. Panel data on the entrepreneurial firms of the China’s Growth Enterprise Market is adopted, and panel random-effects tobit regression is used for empirical test. The results indicate that leader-team norm-consistent age dissimilarity is negatively associated with R&D intensity of entrepreneurial firms, whereas there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between leader-team norm-inconsistent age dissimilarity and entrepreneurial firms’ R&D intensity. The aforementioned relationship is stronger when leader power is high as opposed to when it is low. The execution of robustness checks authenticates the veracity of the empirical results.

Keywords: leader power; age diversity; leader-team interface; R&D intensity; entrepreneurship
Corresponding author: Yi Su, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, E-mail:

Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 72074059

Funding source: National Social Science Foundation of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 18BGL135

Funding source: Key Project of the “14th Five-Year Plan” for Education Science in Jiangsu Province

Award Identifier / Grant number: C-b/2021/01/27

  1. Research funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 72074059 and 18BGL135) and Key Project of the “14th Five-Year Plan” for Education Science in Jiangsu Province (C-b/2021/01/27).

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Received: 2021-08-25
Accepted: 2022-04-12
Published Online: 2022-05-09

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Competitive Research Articles
  3. Understanding Imagination in Entrepreneurship
  4. The Connections Between Founders’ Social Network and Human Capital in Technology-Based New Ventures
  5. Team Ventures and Acquisition Exits: Are Team-Founded Ventures More Likely to be Acquired?
  6. Entrepreneurs’ Networking Styles and Normative Underpinnings during Institutional Transition
  7. Effect of the Social and Cultural Control on Young Eastern Ethnic Minority Groups’ Online-Startup Motivation
  8. Factors Affecting Social Entrepreneurial Intention: An Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory
  9. “Resources at Hand, Head, and Heart”: ‘Heightened Habitus’ as an Endogenous Resource in Immigrant Entrepreneurial Bricolage
  10. Corporate entrepreneurship programmes as mechanisms to accelerate product innovations
  11. Strategic Decision-Making and Performance in Social Enterprises: Process Dimensions and the Influence of Entrepreneurs’ Proactive Personality
  12. Network Dynamic for Experimental Learning Cycle and Innovation Process: A Conceptual Model
  13. Economic Context and Entrepreneurial Intention: Analysis of Individuals’ Perceptions in a Spanish University Context
  14. Feeling Right: Regulatory Fit Theory and Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions
  15. Understanding the Role of Perceptions in Opportunity Evaluation: A Discrete Choice Experiment
  16. Entrepreneurial Well-being: An Exploratory Study for Positive Entrepreneurship
  17. How Does Institutional Context Influence Entrepreneurship Education Outcomes? Evidence from Two African Countries
  18. How the Leader-Team Age Dissimilarity and Leader Power Shape the Entrepreneurial Ventures’ R&D Intensity: Empirical Evidence from China
https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2021-0352
Keywords for this article
leader power; age diversity; leader-team interface; R&D intensity; entrepreneurship

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Competitive Research Articles
  3. Understanding Imagination in Entrepreneurship
  4. The Connections Between Founders’ Social Network and Human Capital in Technology-Based New Ventures
  5. Team Ventures and Acquisition Exits: Are Team-Founded Ventures More Likely to be Acquired?
  6. Entrepreneurs’ Networking Styles and Normative Underpinnings during Institutional Transition
  7. Effect of the Social and Cultural Control on Young Eastern Ethnic Minority Groups’ Online-Startup Motivation
  8. Factors Affecting Social Entrepreneurial Intention: An Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory
  9. “Resources at Hand, Head, and Heart”: ‘Heightened Habitus’ as an Endogenous Resource in Immigrant Entrepreneurial Bricolage
  10. Corporate entrepreneurship programmes as mechanisms to accelerate product innovations
  11. Strategic Decision-Making and Performance in Social Enterprises: Process Dimensions and the Influence of Entrepreneurs’ Proactive Personality
  12. Network Dynamic for Experimental Learning Cycle and Innovation Process: A Conceptual Model
  13. Economic Context and Entrepreneurial Intention: Analysis of Individuals’ Perceptions in a Spanish University Context
  14. Feeling Right: Regulatory Fit Theory and Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions
  15. Understanding the Role of Perceptions in Opportunity Evaluation: A Discrete Choice Experiment
  16. Entrepreneurial Well-being: An Exploratory Study for Positive Entrepreneurship
  17. How Does Institutional Context Influence Entrepreneurship Education Outcomes? Evidence from Two African Countries
  18. How the Leader-Team Age Dissimilarity and Leader Power Shape the Entrepreneurial Ventures’ R&D Intensity: Empirical Evidence from China
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