Entrepreneurial intention and regional internationalization in China

Abstract

This study uses a novel approach to examine the link between regional internationalization and entrepreneurial intention in China. Robust findings suggest that higher degrees of internationalization in locations like Shenzhen and Hong Kong lead to lower levels of entrepreneurial intention, while lower degrees of internationalization in Mainland China lead to higher levels of entrepreneurial intention. This striking result underscores the significance of doing a regional-level analysis rather than countrywide studies for large diverse markets like China, where regional differences in internationalization policies, economic reforms, and institutions tend to vary significantly between locations compared to smaller or more developed economies. We conclude that the relatively higher levels of necessity-based entrepreneurship in China may help explain some of the regional differences observed in total entrepreneurial activity. Our findings also contribute to the literature by revealing significant complexity in the relationship between internationalization and entrepreneurship and support findings of previous studies regarding the importance of location for entrepreneurial intentions in emerging markets like China (as reported by Pan and Yang (Small Business Economics, 2018); Zhu, Lui, He, & Lu et al. (Small Business Economics, 2018b); and Liu et al. (Small Business Economics, 2018)).