Meteorological analysis of China’s policy for women’s entrepreneurship: themes, validity and prospects

The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurship policies in China from 2009 to 2019. Survey data were collected from Chinese government departments, and content analysis and policy tool analysis were used to test the research hypotheses. The research yields the following four basic findings: (1) The policy release style is unstable, which means that the number of policies released shows an “M-type” instead of a linear growth trend; that is, the characteristic of policy issuing is not continuous growth but rather an M-shaped trend of growth, decline, regrowth, and redecline, and there is a weak discontinuity; (2) There is strong coordination between the central government and local governments; and (3) the distribution of policy topics is characterized by comprehensive diversity and regional differences. The western region shows a trend of catching up with and overtaking, but the eastern region is still in the leading position with advanced policies. (4) The distribution of policy tools shows the characteristics of imbalance. Supply-oriented and environment-oriented policy tools are used more often, while demand-oriented policy tools are used less. Therefore, this study proposes an optimization path for unscientific policy design, including promoting an orderly approach to increase the density and granularity of the policy and designing policy tools in a balanced way. More attention should be given to the inclusion of women entrepreneurs in advanced industries and removing obstacles in women’s entrepreneurship. The results can help to formulate policies scientifically and narrow the regional gap in women’s entrepreneurship policy.