History matters: the effects of Chinese ports from 170 years ago on entrepreneurship today

摘要

Mounting evidence suggests that current regional entrepreneurship can be explained largely by historical entrepreneurship. Our research shows, however, that entrepreneurship can be fostered by historical events, such as the establishment of ports in China in 1842, which at the time were based mainly on agriculture. Moreover, historical entrepreneurship may even have originated from these historical events. By altering regional entrepreneurial culture, human capital and the transportation system, historical ports that opened up to 170 years ago can significantly predict current regional entrepreneurship. We strengthen our conclusion by mitigating the potential selection bias of historical ports and introducing several robustness tests.