中美创业比较研究:他山之石,可以攻玉?

Learning from Comparing: New Directions in the Study of Entrepreneurship in China and the U. S.

Wu等(2020)为中美创新创业(比较)研究提供了一个回顾、反思、融合与拓展的切入点。他们就创业中两个核心的不确定性——来源于市场与技术快速演化的不确定性以及来源于制度快速演化的不确定性——系统地总结了过去20年基于中国或美国场景的重要文献并就双方如何借鉴彼此的理论和研究范式提出了具体而有创意的操作建议。本文在该基础上就中美创新创业比较研究的学术目标以及实践过程中存在的潜在陷阱做出进一步的阐述。我们认为跨场景的比较研究是验证理论框架解释力边界的最佳方式之一。只有通过深入了解外部世界,才能更好地研究与诠释本国的实践与经验,以期在讲述有中国特色的独到故事的同时推进跨时间、跨制度、跨地缘的普适性理论机制构建。在实践中,学者要明晰基于一方实践而构建的理论的隐藏性的假设与边界条件。只有明晰这些假设与边界条件,我们才能更好地了解哪些理论机制与预测在跨境"移植"上有很强的相关性以及跨境解释空间拓展的潜力。

Wu,Eesley,& Eisenhardt( 2020) provides a valuable moment for scholars to reflect,reimagine,and( re) synthesize entrepreneurship research across the Chinese and U. S. settings. We wholeheartedly support their call for cross-border dialogues and collaborations and believe that such endeavors will help generate a"Medici Effect"in entrepreneurship research where the intersection of diverse ideas leads to innovations in both academic scholarship and field practices. While Wu,Eesley,and Eisenhardt( 2020) showcases the strengths and opportunities of international collaborations,we draw scholars’ attention to some common pitfalls in comparative studies,especially of contexts featured with different stages of industrial cycle and institutional development. In order to fully leverage insights developed in one country to guide practices in another,scholars and policymakers shall understand the often-implicit boundary conditions or hidden assumptions underneath the original analytical frameworks.