When Family Embeddedness Unravels: A Dynamic Perspective on Marital Dissolution and Entrepreneurial Activity in China

Abstract Family embeddedness research has largely treated marriage as a relatively stable context for entrepreneurship, leaving unclear how disruptive family transitions reshape entrepreneurial activity. Integrating the dynamic family embeddedness perspective with conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the behavioral and motivational consequences of marital dissolution for individual entrepreneurial activity in China. Study 1 draws on the 2016 and 2020 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and combines propensity score matching with a difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) specification. The results indicate that individuals who experienced marital dissolution engage in less entrepreneurial activity than those who remained married. Further analysis suggests that this effect is concentrated in entrepreneurial persistence. Drawing on a three-wave survey of 533 respondents, including a focal analytical sample of 307, Study 2 provides evidence of a mediating role for family motivation in the relationship between marital dissolution and entrepreneurial activity, which becomes stronger at higher levels of social status. Our study advances a dynamic family embeddedness perspective and extends COR theory by revealing how marital dissolution erodes the motivational resources that sustain entrepreneurial activity.