Does CEO demographic characteristics affect family firms’ innovation?

The aim of this paper is to consider how CEO’s demography affect family firm’s innovation. Innovation is a key factor in developing the competitive advantage of the family firm in their long run orientation. In this type of firms, CEO is often the most influent individual in the governance of the firm. Thus, investigate his impact on innovation is challenging and relevant. Following the insight from the Upper Echelon Theory (Hambrick and Mason, 1984), we empirically test the impact of the CEO’s demography on innovation using a sample of 251 Italian family companies. Specifically, we found that in family firm CEO’s education and experience influence innovation, while age does not.