Research On The Impact And Mechanism Of Multiple Network Embedding On The Entrepreneurial Performance Of Returning Talents

The lack of human resources for rural development requires talented people to return to their hometowns to start their own businesses.Promoting entrepreneurship in the hometown is a double fit for China’s mass entrepreneurship and innovation strategy and rural revitalization strategy.As China’s economic growth enters a new normal,labour resources have evolved from a one-way flow in the past to a two-way flow,and the trend of returning to the countryside for entrepreneurship has grown in tandem,bringing development to rural areas in terms of talent,capital and industrial development.As China’s economic growth enters a new normal,labour resources have evolved from a one-way flow in the past to a two-way flow,and the trend of returning to the countryside for entrepreneurship has grown in tandem,bringing development to rural areas in terms of talent,capital and industrial development.However,while returning entrepreneurial activities are developing rapidly,they are also facing multiple challenges such as resource constraints in rural areas,poorly developed capital markets and a shortage of capital or insufficient capacity of entrepreneurs.The entrepreneurial activities of returning talents are rooted in the rural social relationship system,and are embedded in multiple networks based on the different fields of activity in which the entrepreneurial talents and their newly created organisations are located.Multiple networks are the key channels through which entrepreneurship can access the resources necessary for survival and development,and network embedding is the key to solving the dilemma of entrepreneurial growth of returning talents.At present,scholars have effectively explored the factors influencing the performance of entrepreneurship in rural areas,and have argued the basic view that "entrepreneurial activities are embedded in social structures",but there are still areas for improvement.Second,the research on network embeddedness in the field of rural entrepreneurship is still in its infancy,and the analysis of the constituent elements of network embeddedness is not comprehensive,and the analysis of the mechanism of action is not systematic and in-depth.Therefore,based on the special context of entrepreneurship of returning talents in China and the background of rural revitalization strategy,this paper reveals the inner mechanism of improving the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents in China from the perspective of multiple network embeddings,which can help promote the high-quality development of returning talents’ entrepreneurship.This paper takes the entrepreneurial performance of returning entrepreneurs as the research object,combines network embedding theory,opportunity identification theory,entrepreneurial patchwork theory and entrepreneurial performance theory,integrates economics and sociology disciplines,clarifies basic concepts,analyses the contextualised characteristics,structural characteristics and stage evolution of multiple network embedding of returning entrepreneurs,and constructs a comprehensive theoretical framework on the impact of multiple network embedding on returning entrepreneurial performance The following conclusions were drawn from the empirical tests using various econometric methods.(1)Network embedding consists of social network embedding,industrial network embedding and village network embedding,and the characteristics of different types of network embedding are different: The social network of returning talents is composed of family,relatives and friends,and the social distance between different subjects is different,forming a concentric circle structure.The relationships between organisations in the industrial network do not evolve into market-based relationships,but are transformed from "strangers" to "acquaintances" in frequent transactions,and still have the characteristics of a circle.The village network consists of an informal network formed by the interaction of villagers and a formal network formed by the power game of village subjects,which has both traditional and modern characteristics.(2)There are group differences between the entrepreneurial talent returning to their hometown and the entrepreneurial talent in their hometown,reflected in the fact that the entrepreneurial talent returning to their hometown is more inclined to opportunity-based entrepreneurship than the entrepreneurial talent in their hometown,with higher investment in entrepreneurship,more workers employed and more obvious employment-led effects.The differences in survival and innovation performance between home-based and incountry talent are not significant,and growth performance is slightly lower than that of incountry talent overall.The experience of returning talents in their hometowns makes their embedding in local social networks and village networks weaker.(3)Social network embedding,industrial network embedding and village network embedding all have significant positive effects on entrepreneurial performance in the hometown,and the effect sizes of the three on entrepreneurial performance are: industrial network embedding > social network embedding > village network embedding.Therefore,multiple network embedding is an inherent requirement for the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents.(4)The analysis of network embedding and entrepreneurial performance by dimensions shows that,in terms of the survival goal of entrepreneurship,the structural optimisation of social network embedding is more important than relationship quality,and the relationship quality of industrial network,business network size and network centrality play an indispensable role,while the role of village network embedding is not reflected;in terms of the growth goal of entrepreneurship,for all dimensions of social network embedding,industrial network relationship quality,business network size and network centrality play an indispensable role,while the role of village network embedding is not reflected.In terms of the goal of entrepreneurial growth,all dimensions of social network embedding,industrial network quality,business network scale and network centrality,and the role of village informal network embedding are effectively played,while the role of institutional network scale of industrial network embedding and village formal network embedding is not obvious;in terms of the goal of entrepreneurial innovation in returning home,all dimensions of industrial network embedding and village formal network embedding can effectively promote the entrepreneurial innovation performance of returning home talents,while the role of social network embedding and village domain formal network embedding is weaker.(5)The mechanism analysis reveals that opportunities and resources are the main paths through which multiple network embeddings affect the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents.The embedded social and industrial networks provide fertile ground for opportunity identification and entrepreneurial piecing together,while the embedded village network provides them with access to special resources such as land,labour and policies.At the same time,the moderating role of contextual factors in specific networks cannot be ignored,as the entrepreneurial effect is enhanced by the foreign support received by returning talents;the intensity of competition in environmental uncertainty inhibits the entrepreneurial effect of embedded industrial networks,while policy changes and technological turbulence promote cooperation among industrial organisations,thus enhancing the entrepreneurial effect of embedded industrial networks;the clan network has a reinforcing effect on the entrepreneurial effect of embedded village networks There is a reinforcing effect of clan networks on the entrepreneurial effect of village network embedding.(6)Based on the heterogeneity analysis,it is found that the effect of social network embedding on entrepreneurial performance is significant for both opportunity and survival entrepreneurs,while the effect of industrial network embedding on entrepreneurial performance is only significant for opportunity entrepreneurs,indicating that opportunity entrepreneurs are good at using industrial networks and are more likely to make the transition from social network embedding to industrial network embedding.The effect of industrial network embedding on entrepreneurial performance is only significant in the group of opportunity entrepreneurs.The effect of multiple network embedding on entrepreneurship varies by stage,with the effect of social network embedding on entrepreneurial performance diminishing during the growth phase as the entrepreneurship of returning talent progresses from the creation,survival and growth phases.Secondly,the role played by industrial network embedding is more obvious in the pilot regions,and the experience of the pilot regions should be summarised and replicated.Thirdly,the entrepreneurial effect of village network embedding is more pronounced for returning talents who started their businesses in formerly non-poor villages than for returning talents who started their businesses in formerly poor villages.The value and innovation of this paper are mainly reflected in the following aspects.(1)In terms of research perspective,it inherits the embedding idea of "Economic action embedded in social structure" from the new economic sociology,and understands the entrepreneurship of returning talents as an economic and social behaviour embedded in rural society,which is a contextualized application of network embedding theory in the field of returning entrepreneurship in China.The research on network embeddedness in the field of rural entrepreneurship is still in its infancy,and the type of network embeddedness is limited to a single social network or a dual network including a binary social network and an industrial network.This study makes up for the lack of contextualisation in the current research on rural entrepreneurial network embedding and makes a certain "marginal contribution" to the research on rural entrepreneurial network embedding by creatively proposing "village network embedding",which extends the research on the factors influencing the performance of returning entrepreneurship to the village level."marginal contribution".(2)In the theoretical analysis framework,following the idea of "individualorganization-external environment" interactive feedback in the process of returning to rural entrepreneurship,we analyze "social network embedding-industry network embeddingvillage network embedding" one by one.The analysis of the components of "social network embedding-industrial network embedding-village network embedding" and their impact on the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents,and the analysis of the role of multiple network embeddings on the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents with the logical line of "network embedding-opportunities/resources-entrepreneurial performance",integrates the micro social network embedding with the micro social network embedding.It also integrates the micro social network embedding,the meso industrial network embedding and the village network embedding,and takes into account the macro environmental uncertainty factors in the industrial network embedding study,so as to provide an effective description and explanation for the entrepreneurial growth of hometown talents and make up for the lack of fragmented research on the entrepreneurial performance of hometown talents.(3)In terms of research content and methodology,the Multiple Network Embedding Scale for Returning Entrepreneurs was developed,and the entrepreneurial effects of multiple network embedding were verified based on solid questionnaire data.Based on the literature review and field interviews,we summarised the characteristics of the multiple network embedding of returning entrepreneurs,developed an evaluation scale that passed the reliability test for social network embedding,industrial network embedding and village network embedding,and used the entropy value method to derive the index weights to achieve the measurement of multiple network embedding of returning entrepreneurs.The entrepreneurial performance was categorised into survival performance,growth performance and innovation performance according to specific enhancement objectives,and different types of network embedding and entrepreneurial performance variables were synthesised for benchmark regressions.The appropriate instrumental variables were selected to deal with the endogeneity problem using the two-stage least squares(2SLS)method,and the stepwise method and Bootstrap mediation effect test were used to examine the effect of multiple network embedding on the entrepreneurial performance of the returned home talent.The paths of the effect of multiple network embedding on the entrepreneurial performance of returning talents were examined using stepwise method and Bootstrap mediated effect test.