The Digital Revolution – Digital Entrepreneurship and Transformation in Beijing

This paper explores digital entrepreneurship and the impact of digitalisation on the entrepreneurial environment in Beijing. The empirical data is composed of 20 semi-structured interviews with Beijing based entrepreneurs. This paper applies institutional theory to explore the state sponsored push for entrepreneur-ship, innovation and digitalisation, and how the entrepreneurs are experiencing transformed environments. The paper finds that entrepreneurs experience a heightened societal trust and increased support, yet a lack institutional trust. Government initiatives and digitalisation is found to have rejuvenated entrepreneurship in China, providing greater opportunities for economic action, but dominant institutions need to further develop to ensure the growth of a successful and sustainable entrepreneurial environment. This paper contributes to digital entrepreneurship literature by offering unique empirical evidence as to how institutional environments, i.e local contexts, regulatory and social forces can influence and impact on the emergence of private enterprising in China.