Is the Jack Ma Trajectory Unique? Assessing the Place-Based Hypothesis on Entrepreneurial Success

TY - JOUR

T1 - Is the Jack Ma Trajectory Unique? Assessing the Place-Based Hypothesis on Entrepreneurial Success

AU - Klingler-Vidra, Robyn

AU - Hai, Jiawei

AU - Liu, Ye

AU - Chalmers, Adam

PY - 2021/9/2

Y1 - 2021/9/2

N2 - There is a widely-held belief that China’s high-performing entrepreneurs have been fueled by their transnational experience. Scholars have pointed to studying or working in the US, in particular, as a driver of their performance, while other researchers emphasize the ascent of place-based factors, such as the triple helix – the interaction of industry, government and academia – of leading cities as a bedrock for China’s entrepreneurship. In this paper, we examine the migration patterns of high-performing entrepreneurs, like Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, in order to test these competing hypotheses. To do so, we analyze the spatial mobility patterns of the founders of the Chinese high-growth companies that had raised at least US$ 1 billion in private equity funding as of March 2020. In contrast to the prevailing assumption that these high-performing entrepreneurs are returnees (e.g. Chinese entrepreneurs that lived abroad and returned to China), we find that, like Ma, this elite cohort are predominantly graduates with bachelor’s degrees from universities in urban coastal regions in China. Rather than transnational or location-based explanations, our findings point to sub-national migration patterns within China—to and within coastal urban areas—as more likely to drive entrepreneurial performance.

AB - There is a widely-held belief that China’s high-performing entrepreneurs have been fueled by their transnational experience. Scholars have pointed to studying or working in the US, in particular, as a driver of their performance, while other researchers emphasize the ascent of place-based factors, such as the triple helix – the interaction of industry, government and academia – of leading cities as a bedrock for China’s entrepreneurship. In this paper, we examine the migration patterns of high-performing entrepreneurs, like Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, in order to test these competing hypotheses. To do so, we analyze the spatial mobility patterns of the founders of the Chinese high-growth companies that had raised at least US$ 1 billion in private equity funding as of March 2020. In contrast to the prevailing assumption that these high-performing entrepreneurs are returnees (e.g. Chinese entrepreneurs that lived abroad and returned to China), we find that, like Ma, this elite cohort are predominantly graduates with bachelor’s degrees from universities in urban coastal regions in China. Rather than transnational or location-based explanations, our findings point to sub-national migration patterns within China—to and within coastal urban areas—as more likely to drive entrepreneurial performance.

KW - Entrepreneurship

KW - CHINA

KW - Jack Ma

KW - transnational

KW - MIGRATION

KW - INSTITUTIONS

UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08276331.2021.1974236

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115250331&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/08276331.2021.1974236

DO - 10.1080/08276331.2021.1974236

M3 - Article

SN - 0827-6331

JO - Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship

JF - Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship

ER -