Developing entrepreneurial ecosystem: a case of unicorns in China and its innovation policy implications

ABSTRACT

The concept of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) has become increasingly popular among policymakers because of its potential to drive economic growth. In many countries, the promotion of EE has been linked with innovation policy but little research has been done to examine whether such policy can facilitate EE’s development. Using the case study method to examine the growth of China’s unicorns, which are productive entrepreneurial outputs of EE, this paper investigates the process of EE’s emergence and development, and the role of government policies, including innovation policy, in promoting EE’s growth. The paper advances three policy implications derived from the case study; first, the important role of government policies in creating institutional contexts; second, developing informal institutions, and third, implementing a systemic intervention, to promote EE’s emergence and development.

KEYWORDS:

• Entrepreneurial ecosystem
• unicorns
• innovation policy
• China
• institutional contexts

JEL CLASSIFICATIONS:

• E71
• G24
• I25
• L26
• O38
• O43

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teresa Shuk-Ching Poon

Teresa Shuk-Ching Poon, Associate Professor cum Programme Leader of Bachelor of Entrepreneurial Management (Honours) in Design Business, Rita Tong Liu School of Business and Hospitality Management, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China. She has broad research interests covering entrepreneurship, global value chains, sustainable HRM, and employment relations. Tel: [phone], E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].

Chia-Hsuan Wu

Chia-Hsuan Wu, Associate Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the First Research Division (Chinese economy), Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Taiwan, Republic of China. Her research interests cover agricultural economics, general equilibrium modelling, and health economics in China. Tel.: [phone] #309, Email: [email protected].

Meng-Chun Liu

Meng-Chun Liu, Research Fellow and Director of the First Research Division (Chinese economy), Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Taiwan, Republic of China. His research focuses on S&T and high-tech industries in China, and industrial economic studies. Tel.: [phone]#413, Email: [email protected].