Analysing the Impact of Regulatory and Cultural Factors on Recent Graduates Initiating AI Technology Startups in China's Urban Centers

Abstract

This thesis examines the roles played by regulatory frameworks, technological infrastructure, cultural expectations, and educational background in shaping the entrepreneurial experiences of recent graduates who start artificial intelligence (AI) companies in urban centres in China. The research employed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach, collecting survey data from 150 AI startup founders and conducting in-depth interviews with 15 participants. Quantitative results indicate that perceived technology infrastructure and regulatory understanding are strongly associated with self-reported startup success within this sample, while educational background shows a weak or negative association. Qualitative analysis identifies six overlapping themes: regulatory complexity; funding access and strategic dependencies; cultural narratives and entrepreneurial identity; gaps in entrepreneurial education; infrastructure and digital inequality; and ecosystem navigation and strategic adaptation. The thesis proposes a Layered Ecosystem Pressures Model to interpret how institutional, ecosystem and founder-level pressures shape entrepreneurial agency. The study applies institutional theory, entrepreneurial ecosystem theory and resource-based perspectives to interpret how graduate founders experience layered pressures in early-stage AI venture formation. It concludes that AI entrepreneurship in China is shaped not only by technological opportunity, but also by perceived regulatory clarity, access to infrastructure, cultural legitimacy and the practical agency of recent graduate founders.