Determinants of returnees’ entrepreneurship in rural marginal China

Abstract

Returnee entrepreneurship represents a new direction in entrepreneurial migration and a distinct mode of geographical mobility among entrepreneurs. This study focuses on the Tibetan region of Sichuan, China, in researching young adults who have returned to rural marginal areas from cities to engage in tourism entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is taken as a theoretical basis to evaluate critical determinants of returnee entrepreneurs' business development from two perspectives: macro (the entrepreneurial environment) and micro (entrepreneurs themselves). The authors conducted four narrative interviews with local bed and breakfast entrepreneurs in the Ganzi prefecture. Findings reveal that local embeddedness and non-local connections are vital to returnee entrepreneurs’ business development. Numerous determinants related to local embeddedness and non-local connections are also tied to entrepreneurial ecosystem elements, such as infrastructure, institutions, market conditions, and capital.