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Paper: Economic Inequality May Spur Entrepreneurship

Sep 07-2022   



A paper by Xie Xuanli and Li Lixing, both professors of the NSD, and Zhou Guangsu, Ph.D. alumnus of the NSD, has recently been accepted and published by Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, which is among 50 academic journals referenced by Financial Times in its ranking of business schools worldwide.

 

The paper, Economic Inequality and Entrepreneurship: Micro-Evidence from China , develops a theoretical explanation for why economic inequality may affect individuals’ decision to engage in entrepreneurial activities. It finds that inequality may have a positive impact on entrepreneurship because it triggers social comparison, thus motivating individuals to become entrepreneurs. Moreover, such effect is stronger for people in the middle economic status group than for those in the top or bottom groups, as middle economic status group has both the motivation and capability to take entrepreneurial actions.

 

The authors us a sample of 3,879 Chinese households from 2010 to 2018 and merge them with county-level variables to test their hypotheses. The results support the hypotheses and remain consistent across different model specifications, including models controlling for the potential endogeneity between inequality and entrepreneurship.

 

Xie Xuanli is PKU Bo Ya Young Scholar, Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Young Scholar, NSD Associate Researcher, and PKU Institute of Digital Finance (IDF) Senior Researcher. Her research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship, digital transformation, overseas development, and corporate governance.

 

Li Lixing is PKU Bo Ya Young Scholar, NSD Professor of Economics, and Managing Editor of China Economic Quarterly International. His research areas encompass public finance, development economics, labor economics, and digital economy, among others.

 

Zhou Guangsu is Associate Professor of School of Labor and Human Resources, Ren Min University, and received his doctoral degree from the NSD in 2015. He focuses on digital economy and labor market, income distribution and common prosperity, as well as inequal opportunity and social mobility, among others.

Paper: Economic Inequality May Spur Entrepreneurship

Sep 07-2022   



A paper by Xie Xuanli and Li Lixing, both professors of the NSD, and Zhou Guangsu, Ph.D. alumnus of the NSD, has recently been accepted and published by Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, which is among 50 academic journals referenced by Financial Times in its ranking of business schools worldwide.

 

The paper, Economic Inequality and Entrepreneurship: Micro-Evidence from China , develops a theoretical explanation for why economic inequality may affect individuals’ decision to engage in entrepreneurial activities. It finds that inequality may have a positive impact on entrepreneurship because it triggers social comparison, thus motivating individuals to become entrepreneurs. Moreover, such effect is stronger for people in the middle economic status group than for those in the top or bottom groups, as middle economic status group has both the motivation and capability to take entrepreneurial actions.

 

The authors us a sample of 3,879 Chinese households from 2010 to 2018 and merge them with county-level variables to test their hypotheses. The results support the hypotheses and remain consistent across different model specifications, including models controlling for the potential endogeneity between inequality and entrepreneurship.

 

Xie Xuanli is PKU Bo Ya Young Scholar, Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Young Scholar, NSD Associate Researcher, and PKU Institute of Digital Finance (IDF) Senior Researcher. Her research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship, digital transformation, overseas development, and corporate governance.

 

Li Lixing is PKU Bo Ya Young Scholar, NSD Professor of Economics, and Managing Editor of China Economic Quarterly International. His research areas encompass public finance, development economics, labor economics, and digital economy, among others.

 

Zhou Guangsu is Associate Professor of School of Labor and Human Resources, Ren Min University, and received his doctoral degree from the NSD in 2015. He focuses on digital economy and labor market, income distribution and common prosperity, as well as inequal opportunity and social mobility, among others.