Family Political Embeddedness: A Double-Edged Sword For Entrepreneurial Entry in China

Political embeddedness and family embeddedness are two influential yet distinct areas of entrepreneurship research. In this study, we integrate these two streams of research to focus on family political embeddedness and its implications for new venture creation. Drawing on the social embeddedness perspective and utilizing a longitudinal dataset of 17,084 individuals from the China Family Panel Studies (2014–2022), complemented by 32 qualitative interviews, we examine the relationship between family political embeddedness and entrepreneurial entry, revealing a nuanced interplay. Our theory and related findings reveal a general negative relationship between family political embeddedness and entrepreneurial entry. However, we also unveil an indirect pathway through which family political embeddedness can foster entrepreneurial entry through political news consumption. Finally, we theorize and find that perceived government efficiency strengthens the relationship between political news consumption and entrepreneurial entry. Our work yields important theoretical and practical implications.