Public support policies and entrepreneurship in less-developed areas: a study of China’s revolutionary base areas

Although public policies targeting balanced regional development aim to promote economic development and improve the well-being of residents in less-developed areas, whether they can form an endogenous growth path in the region is controversial. Based on the Old Revolutionary Development Program (ORDP), this study systematically assesses the impact of public support policies on entrepreneurship with panel data from 177 cities in China. Empirical results show that ORDP significantly nurtures regional entrepreneurship, primarily by facilitating marketization processes and attracting resources, such as venture capital and talent. Regional characteristics form the heterogeneity effects, this effect is larger in cities with low administrative hierarchy and low population density, third-tier cities and central and western regions. The findings suggest that less developed regions should explore market-oriented support mechanisms and optimise public policies for venture capital and talent attraction.