Push and Pull Factors Influencing Rural Entrepreneurial Intentions among Chinese College Students: Evidence from Zhejiang Province
Keywords:
employment obstacle, government support, rural entrepreneurial intention, the sense of belonging to the cityAbstract
Rural entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in promoting balanced regional development and advancing rural revitalisation strategies, particularly in emerging economies such as China, where structural employment pressures and urban–rural disparities remain prominent. Despite increasing scholarly attention to entrepreneurial intention, limited research has systematically examined how push and pull factors jointly shape university students’ intentions to engage in rural entrepreneurship. Grounded in push–pull theory, this study develops an integrated analytical framework and employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse survey data collected from 507 university students in Zhejiang Province. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of Employment Obstacles (push factor), Sense of Belonging to the City (contextual attachment factor), and Government Support (pull factor) on Rural Entrepreneurial Intentions. The empirical findings indicate that Employment Obstacles and Government Support significantly and positively influence rural entrepreneurial intentions, whereas Sense of Belonging to the City exerts a significant negative effect. By extending push–pull theory to the rural entrepreneurship context, this study enriches the theoretical understanding of entrepreneurial motivation and provides practical policy implications for encouraging graduate participation in rural revitalisation initiatives.
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