Author(s)

Ziyan Cen ^1,2

Affiliation(s)

¹ The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China
² Hangzhou Shanke Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, 310051, China

Corresponding Author

Ziyan Cen

ABSTRACT

As an important part of China's economy, family businesses are undergoing a critical generational transition. The proportion of female successors has risen from 12% in 2010 to 37% in 2024, becoming a force that cannot be ignored among the succession group. However, structural constraints from a gender perspective have placed this group in a complex predicament regarding the protection of their rights: the tension between formal legal equality and substantive inequality in practice, gender power barriers in the business arena, and conflicts with family role expectations collectively constitute a reality of "explicit legality but implicit constraints." Through institutional analysis and case comparisons, this paper reveals the mechanisms that give rise to the predicament of female successors' rights and interests. Combining international experiences such as gender equality governance in Northern Europe and judicial reforms of inheritance rights in India, it proposes the construction of a three-dimensional support system of "legal empowerment, policy intervention, and cultural reconstruction." The study suggests that by improving inheritance execution mechanisms, establishing specialized support funds, and promoting gender-sensitive corporate governance, we can achieve a transition from formal equality to substantive equality, providing theoretical and practical references for the sustainable development of family businesses and gender equality governance.

KEYWORDS

Family Businesses; Female Successors; Protection of Rights and Interests; Social Policy

CITE THIS PAPER

Ziyan Cen, The Inheritance Rights Protection and Social Policy Support for Female Successors: From the Social Gender Perspective. Financial Engineering and Risk Management (2025) Vol. 8: 148-153. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/ferm.2025.080217.

REFERENCES

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