How China Harnessed the Silicon Valley Model 

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Though often considered a political economy hostile to entrepreneurship, China now has a vibrant tech startup ecosystem. Its venture capital market is the world’s second largest, and young tech firms play an active role in China's economic and technological development.

My book project examines the rise of the tech startup sector in China and its impact on China’s development in high-tech. I show that China harnessed the "Silicon Valley Model" of tech startups and venture capital for industrial policy, creatively combining state activism with private initiatives. Using sectoral case studies of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, I further show that state-guided entrepreneurship facilitated China's progress in high-tech sectors with high entry barriers by encouraging the exploration of new markets, products, and organization of production.

The project draws upon extensive fieldwork in China in 2018 and 2019, during which I conducted in-depth interviews with government officials, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and industry consultants in the tech hubs of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Suzhou.