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Effect of older adults in the family on the sandwich generation's pursuit of entrepreneurship: evidence from China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2021

Yiwei Liu Open the ORCID record for Yiwei Liu [Opens in a new window] ,
Wenjing Wang Open the ORCID record for Wenjing Wang [Opens in a new window] ,
Zhen Cong  and
Zhirui Chen
Yiwei Liu
Affiliation:
School of Government, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
Wenjing Wang*
Affiliation:
School of Statistics and Mathematics, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
Zhen Cong
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
Zhirui Chen
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Household entrepreneurship is a basic unit of entrepreneurial activity, and a crucial aspect of connecting personal and social wellbeing. This study examines the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. This study also assesses the mediating effect of the middle-aged generation's support to their parents and the moderating effect of the parents’ support with respect to the proportion of elderly family members and entrepreneurship. We use data from the China Family Panel Studies. We adopt the instrumental variable method to deal with endogeneity, robustness and credibility of the estimation results. The results show that a higher proportion of elderly family members impedes household entrepreneurship. Moreover, the financial and instrumental support provided by the middle-aged generation to their parents significantly mediates the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. In turn, parents’ financial support to the middle-aged generation moderates the focal relationship; however, parents’ instrumental support does not moderate the focal relationship. These findings emphasise the need to develop a comprehensive social security network for older adults that will indirectly promote household entrepreneurship, and improve personal and social wellbeing.

Keywords

proportion of elderly family membershousehold entrepreneurshipintergenerational support
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , February 2022 , pp. 331 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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