Can Social Capital and Psychological Capital Improve the Entrepreneurial Performance of the New Generation of Migrant Workers in China?

Hongyu Ma,Yongmei Zhang,Federico Topolansky Barbe

doi:10.3390/su10113964

Abstract

The new generation of migrant workers may play a crucial role in boosting China’s rural economy. With the rise of knowledge economy and the advent of the information age, it is difficult for human capital and economic capital alone to gain advantages in entrepreneurship. Thus, the study of social capital and psychological capital becomes more prominent. Within this context, this paper explores the relationships among entrepreneurs’ psychological capital, social capital, and entrepreneurial outcomes for the new generation of migrant workers in the Shaanxi province. This study uses a quantitative research approach. Primary data were collected from 525 rural households in the Shaanxi province. A structural equation model is used to verify the association between social capital, psychological capital, and entrepreneurial performance. The psychological capital of the new generation of migrant workers is found to exert a more significant impact on their entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial environment perception than social capital. Both entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial environment perception of the new generation of migrant workers are conducive to the improvement of entrepreneurial performance. Nevertheless, the intermediary role of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is more prominent than entrepreneurial environment perception.

Highlights

According to the research findings on the China segment of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2016/2017 (GEM 2016/2017), the quality of China’s entrepreneurial activities has been improving
Results of this study indicate that the social capital of the new generation of migrant workers should be divided into five dimensions: Social prestige, social network, social participation, social support, and social trust
The findings of this research make a contribution to knowledge by gaining a deeper understanding of social capital, psychological capital, entrepreneurial environment perception, and entrepreneurial performance of the new generation of migrant workers

Summary

Introduction

According to the research findings on the China segment of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2016/2017 (GEM 2016/2017), the quality of China’s entrepreneurial activities has been improving. China’s entrepreneurial activity is active in both the global efficiency-driven and innovation-driven economies. In 2014, China’s entrepreneurial activity index (15.53) was higher than that of developed countries such as the USA (13.81), the UK (10.66), Germany (5.27), and Japan (3.83), among which female entrepreneurs (14.18, 21st) were more active than male entrepreneurs (16.83, 22nd). The index of “new products adopting new technologies” (25.63, 50th) and development of “new markets” (24.6, 69th) in entrepreneurship are much lower than those in developed countries [2]. Compared with other innovation-driven economies, China’s business environment is in bad need of improvement. The slow or stagnating development remains in education and training, business environments and research and development transfer [1]

Methods

Results

Conclusion