Does the Different Ways of Internet Utilization Promote Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China

Zhou Xinhao (), Tang Nan and Tang Luyang
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Zhou Xinhao: School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
Tang Nan: College of Art and Science, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
Tang Luyang: School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China

Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, 2023, vol. 17, issue 1, 9

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a key driver of both innovation and economic growth. It comprises two essential components: (i) discover entrepreneurial opportunities and (ii) accumulate entrepreneurial capital. Based on the Chinese Family Panel Studies in 2018, we consider online information acquisition and online learning to be important ways of discovering entrepreneurial opportunities. Additionally, we regard online social engagement and online businesses as essential channels of entrepreneurial capital accumulation. The study reveals that entrepreneurship is positively affected by online information acquisition, online learning, online social engagement, and online businesses. The robustness of our results has been confirmed in terms of model misspecification and the reverse causality of entrepreneurship to Internet utilization. Furthermore, evidence indicates that the impact of online learning on entrepreneurship is negatively moderated by human capital. Additionally, social capital and financial capital play a role in mediating the causal pathway linking online social engagement and online businesses to entrepreneurship.

Keywords: internet utilization; entrepreneurship; information acquisition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:econoa:v:17:y:2023:i:1:p:9:n:1

DOI: 10.1515/econ-2022-0044

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