Why Can Entrepreneurial Involvement Encourage the Entrepreneurship of People Experiencing Poverty?—A Study Using China’s Empirical Data

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, as one of the key means of alleviating extreme poverty, is difficult to achieve among people experiencing poverty partly because their initiative is bound by long-term dependence and their entrepreneurial awareness is not strong. According to the existing literature, entrepreneurial involvement can promote the entrepreneurial willingness of people experiencing poverty and produce entrepreneurial behaviour. However, the reasons and paths of entrepreneurial involvement affecting the poor’s entrepreneurial behaviour are unclear. This paper developed a model based on the theory of involvement to examine the impact of entrepreneurial involvement on the entrepreneurial behaviour of individuals experiencing poverty. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 289 entrepreneurs in poverty from the Wuling Mountain area, and data analysis was performed using a hierarchical regression model. The results indicate that entrepreneurial involvement has a significant direct positive effect on the entrepreneurial behaviour of people with low incomes through the partial mediation of local capabilities. Meanwhile, it has an indirect positive effect, and entrepreneurial role models positively moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial involvement and entrepreneurial behaviour of people with low incomes. The findings provide strong evidence supporting the significant role of entrepreneurial involvement in shaping the entrepreneurial behaviour of entrepreneurs facing poverty in less developed regions. Furthermore, the results highlight the importance of effectively leveraging local capabilities and resources through entrepreneurial involvement. Consequently, this study is of great importance in understanding how government and industries can facilitate entrepreneurial opportunities to their fullest extent by promoting entrepreneurial involvement, thus optimizing local capabilities and serving as influential entrepreneurial role models at the individual level. Furthermore, from a practical standpoint, this research offers tangible solutions and valuable insights regarding the role of entrepreneurial involvement in poverty reduction.