Using the theory of socioemotional wealth as the theoretical foundation, this study takes the A-share listed companies on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2020 as samples and empirically studies the impact of clan culture on the expropriation behaviour of controlling families. The results indicate that clan culture significantly restrains such behaviour. Moreover, the separation of ownership and control positively moderates this relationship, while founder control negatively moderates it. Mechanism test results show that both restricted socioemotional wealth and extended socioemotional wealth play a partial mediating effect in their relationship, and extended socioemotional wealth plays a dominant role, while maintained socioemotional wealth does not have a mediating effect. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the role of informal institutions in family firm governance and highlights the nuanced influence of socioemotional wealth dimensions in constraining controlling family expropriation within the Chinese context.
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