Abstract Based on Institutional Theory and Resource Dependency Theory, this study examines the direct relationship between formal/informal institutional environment and entrepreneurial growth willingness, as well as the moderating effect of entrepreneurs’ social and human capital. Using a sample of 1 221 new ventures from Chinese Private Enterprise Survey in 2012, the results show that the more complex of entrepreneurial process and the worse of market credit, entrepreneurs would have lower growth intention, revealing the binding effect of bad institutional context on entrepreneurial growth willingness. The moderating effect shows that political ties through NPC member would weaken the negative relationship between market credit environment and entrepreneurial growth intention, and entrepreneurs with high human capital are less dependent on institutional environment. The study indicates that in Chinese emerging economy, entrepreneurs’ growth willingness is influenced by institutional environment and entrepreneurs’ behavior, while human capital and social capital, to some extent, work as substitution mechanism for institutional risk and constraint.
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