This study investigates the impact of the managerial capability gap between the CEO and the top management team (TMT) on family CEO’s intention for family control in family business. We define this gap as the degree to which the CEO perceives the managerial capability of TMT to be inferior to that of their own. Using socio-emotional wealth perspective and relative deprivation theory, we argue that a perceived capability gap can trigger a sense of RD in family CEOs, leading them to prioritize family control to protect their SEW. We further examine three types of contingencies within and outside the CEO’s family system that might shape this process: the family of origin, the current family, and non-family professional managers. Our empirical analysis, based on a nationwide survey of Chinese private enterprises, reveals that a larger CEO-TMT managerial capability gap positively affects CEO’s intention for family control. Such effect is stronger when the CEO’s original family experienced unemployment before founding the family firm but is weakened when the CEO’s descendant(s) have their own business careers. Outside the family system, this effect is strengthened when non-family professional managers often make critical decisions in the family firm.
