Digital economy empowered entrepreneurship
Abstract
Purpose
As an important engine of economic growth, the digital economy is bringing new opportunities for the promotion of entrepreneurship. However, key questions regarding the extent of the effect of the digital economy on entrepreneurship remain unanswered. This study examines how the digital economy influences entrepreneurship in China using provincial data from 2011–2020, applying convergence tests and spatial econometric models.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on theoretical analysis and using macro provincial data covering the period of 2011–2020, we adopt a diversified empirical analytical method and apply a combination of the convergence trend test, spatial auto correlation test, and spatial Durbin model to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
First, there is spatial correlation between the digital economy and entrepreneurship. Second, the overall trend of China’s digital economy shows s convergence, with the whole country and the eastern region showing absolute β convergence and the whole country as well as the central and western regions showing β conditional convergence. Third, the digital economy can significantly promote entrepreneurship and has spatial spillover effects. Moreover, higher education has a negative moderating effect on the process of digital economy empowering entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
Studying the spatially correlated impacts of the digital economy on entrepreneurship enhances our understanding of its contribution to economic growth. Policy-makers can use these findings to develop targeted digital infrastructure investments in lagging provinces, guide entrepreneurs to better grasp the opportunities of the digital economy, and provide support for innovation and entrepreneurship. The findings also could offer Chinese experience that can be used to guide developing countries in utilizing the digital economy to enable entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This paper expands and enriches the analytical focus on digital economy-empowered entrepreneurship and complements the current theoretical research on the moderating effect of the digital economy in empowering entrepreneurship.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by major project of National Social Science Foundation of China, “Research on Carbon Emission Reduction and Carbon Trading Market Mechanism of Climate-Smart Agriculture” (19ZDA085), and National Natural Science Foundation of China Project, “An Empirical Study on the Evaluation of Climate-Smart Agriculture Projects: Based on the World Bank's Demonstration Project in China” (71871086).
Citation
Huang, M., Hua, M., Li, J. and Han, Y. (2024), "Digital economy empowered entrepreneurship", Management Decision, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2023-1650
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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