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The Rise of Urban Entrepreneurs in C hina: Capital Endowments and Entry Dynamics
Author(s) -
Liu Cathy Yang,
Huang Xi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
growth and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.657
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1468-2257
pISSN - 0017-4815
DOI - 10.1111/grow.12117
Subject(s) - capital (architecture) , economics , business , labour economics , monetary economics , archaeology , history
The rapid expansion of self‐employment has accompanied the rise of a market economy in urban C hina. According to the N ational B ureau of S tatistics of C hina, the state‐owned enterprises' share of the country's gross domestic product has declined from over 90 percent in 1978 to below 50 percent in 2005. Urban entrepreneurship and self‐employment is an emerging force that is shaping the economic and physical form of C hinese cities but is understudied in the academic literature. Using the 2007 C hinese H ousehold I ncome P roject ( CHIP ) data, we investigate the rate and scale of urban entrepreneurship across C hinese cities, as well as the characteristics and earnings associated with self‐employment as compared to wage employment. We pay particular attention to the financial capital, human capital, and social capital factors underlying entrepreneurial entry and distinguish between “necessity entrepreneurs” and “opportunity entrepreneurs” and their respective socioeconomic characteristics.