| dc.description.abstract | Many efforts to deal with the active aging population have been attempted in various countries, both academically and practically. However, how to help the elderly with sufficient time and accumulated skills to engage in entrepreneurial ventures is an underexploited and neglected area. In this way, if we can gain a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the participation of this group in entrepreneurial activities, we can not only continue to improve the research on the entrepreneurial system of older people from a theoretical point of view but also effectively pool more resources in society to help improve the entrepreneurial performance. At this point, the central research question of this paper is what the individual and environmental determinants of senior post-career entrepreneurship (SPE) are in China. To respond to this question, this paper focuses on Jiangsu Province, China, and examines the determinants of SPE in a specific environmental context using a qualitative method with data from archival research plus 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews on the development of SPE in the region. In the end, we find that starting from the end of occupational maturity and the self-discovery of opportunities and the self-perception of being at the threshold of pre-work stress (self-perception) up to the limit of average life expectancy for any health-permitting range of conditions, should be a relatively scientific range for SPE research. Furthermore, age and former career, when viewed separately, have different implications for entrepreneurial decisions. Age tends not to have a direct impact on entrepreneurial behavior unless it is linked to factors such as health, whereas a former career has a very direct impact on entrepreneurial motivation, but not always in the same direction in different situations. At the same time, these two factors act as a joint label and are an important marker of the life stage. Personality traits and self-need satisfaction can influence the decision to SPE on a psychological level, while considerations of opportunity costs and contextual factors such as education and professionalism can have an impact on SPE on a non-psychological level. It must not be overlooked that macroeconomic trends and social policy orientations, as well as socio-cultural systems, are the most influential factors in the external environment for SPE | |
