Rural-urban migration, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship

We examine the impact of financial literacy on the propensity for entrepreneurship among rural–urban migrants, using panel data from the 2013 and 2015 China Household Finance Survey. While migration’s positive influence on entrepreneurship is well-recognised, we document novel evidence suggesting that higher levels of financial literacy among rural–urban migrants have an additional positive effect. Among the mechanisms through which financial literacy facilitates the transition of disadvantaged rural–urban migrants into entrepreneurs, social capital emerges as the most important, consistent with the findings of the literature on underdog entrepreneurship.