ABSTRACT

In this article, we briefly identify seven evolving characteristics of Chinese entrepreneurship that capture either the essential contextual elements or the outcomes of the contextual influences in China and provide a fertile ground for entrepreneurship research in China. We then present three approaches to contextualization in Chinese entrepreneurship research and map extant research with these approaches to assess the current state of contextualization in Chinese entrepreneurship research. Following the discussion we introduce the five contributions to the Special Issue that advance a more nuanced understanding of entrepreneurship in China from five diverse perspectives. We finally argue that the next stage of entrepreneurship research in China needs to explore four contextual parameters.