Rigor and Relevance: On the Development of Entrepreneurship Research in China

This study examines the contributions of Chinese entrepreneurship research to academic knowledge and its practical implications. Specifically, we investigate how Chinese entrepreneurship research meets the standards of rigor and relevance based on a review of 64 papers published in five major scholarly journals in the Chinese mainland. Results show that Chinese entrepreneurship research has paid comparatively little attention to the “rigor” dimension, while focusing more heavily on practical relevance than on academic relevance on the “relevance” dimension. Future directions for China’s entrepreneurship research are also discussed.