How economic high-quality development affects entrepreneurial efficiency promotions? A multilevel analysis

Entrepreneurial efficiency (EE) promotion is an important component of urban governance, but how high-quality economic development can affect EE has not been deeply discussed. Based on the cross-sectional data of business incubators in 287 Chinese cities, this study aims to reveal the complicated relationship between economic high-quality development and its elements and EE. The empirical analysis indicates that economic high-quality development has a significant positive effect on EE. Second, absorptive capacity (AC) shows significant partial mediation effects and the business environment (BE) shows a significant moderation effect. Third, the degree of resource agglomeration (RA) shows a significant double-threshold effect and innovation capacity (IC) shows a significant triple-threshold effect. Fourth, there are three paths that can maintain high EE and there are also three paths that may inhibit EE to be in high level. Fifth, among these paths, the industrial structure and living standards of the residents are the main driving forces. The conclusions of this study can not only offer some typical paths and cases for the Chinese government itself and other countries’ governments to increase the operating efficiency of business incubators.