IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i24p11281-d1550556.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Unicorn Companies and Gazelle Companies in Jiangsu Province

Author

Listed:
  • Xueyu Li

    (School of Geographic Science, Nantong University, Nantong 226007, China)

  • Lei Ye

    (School of Geographic Science, Nantong University, Nantong 226007, China
    Yangtze River Economic Zone Research Institution of Jiangsu, Nantong 226007, China)

  • Huangwei Chen

    (School of Geographic Science, Nantong University, Nantong 226007, China)

Abstract

In recent years, Jiangsu Province has increasingly prioritized the coordinated regional development of innovation. Unicorn and gazelle companies, characterized by technological or business model innovation, serve as significant indicators of regional innovation capacity. Therefore, this study uses unicorn and gazelle companies recognized between 2020 and 2022 in Jiangsu Province as samples, employing ArcGIS and geographical detectors to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of these companies, and to propose optimization strategies, with the aim of assessing the innovation landscape of Jiangsu Province. The key findings and conclusions are as follows: (1) over the past three years, the average nearest-neighbor distance decreased from 10.491 km to 1.706 km, indicating a significant spatial agglomeration; the peak core density of business clusters increased substantially, reflecting the growth in the number of companies as clustering deepened. (2) Unicorns and gazelles exhibit clear clustering characteristics. The standard deviation ellipse of unicorns is centered around Suzhou, while gazelles display a continuous distribution pattern in Southern and Central Jiangsu. (3) Geographical detector analysis reveals that the level of urban technological innovation is the most influential factor, with key determinants of distribution including total retail sales and patent grants. (4) To foster the development of unicorn and gazelle companies in Jiangsu, the government should focus on enhancing regional innovation capacity, ensuring the sustainable nurturing of innovative firms, and promoting the catalytic development of surrounding areas through core cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Xueyu Li & Lei Ye & Huangwei Chen, 2024. "The Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Unicorn Companies and Gazelle Companies in Jiangsu Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-28, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:24:p:11281-:d:1550556
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11281/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11281/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Kenney & John Zysman, 2019. "Unicorns, Cheshire cats, and the new dilemmas of entrepreneurial finance," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 35-50, January.
    2. Zoltán J. Ács & Pamela Mueller, 2015. "Employment effects of business dynamics: Mice, Gazelles and Elephants," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 16, pages 304-319, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Renata Korsakienė & Svajonė Bekešienė & Šárka Hošková-Mayerová, 2019. "The effects of entrepreneurs’ characteristics on internationalisation of gazelle firms: a case of Lithuania," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 2864-2881, January.
    4. Kuckertz, Andreas & Scheu, Maximilian & Davidsson, Per, 2023. "Chasing mythical creatures – A (not-so-sympathetic) critique of entrepreneurship's obsession with unicorn startups," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    5. Han Huang & Yang Zhou & Mingjie Qian & Zhaoqi Zeng, 2021. "Land Use Transition and Driving Forces in Chinese Loess Plateau: A Case Study from Pu County, Shanxi Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Pengwen Gao & Alimujiang Kasimu & Yongyu Zhao & Bing Lin & Jinpeng Chai & Tuersunayi Ruzi & Hemiao Zhao, 2020. "Evaluation of the Temporal and Spatial Changes of Ecological Quality in the Hami Oasis Based on RSEI," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Du, Xiaosen & Zhou, Jing & Xiao, Chengyou, 2024. "Spatial effects and influencing factors of urban sustainable development: An analysis of urban agglomerations in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 556-575.
    8. Inessa Laur & Ingrid Mignon, 2021. "Match or mismatch between gazelle companies’ challenges and the support provided by intermediary actors – an empirical example of the construction industry," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(10), pages 1845-1869, October.
    9. Jaap W. B. Bos & Erik Stam, 2014. "Gazelles and industry growth: a study of young high-growth firms in The Netherlands," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 145-169, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Niklas Elert, 2014. "What determines entry? Evidence from Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 55-92, August.
    2. Moreno Bonaventura & Luca Maria Aiello & Daniele Quercia & Vito Latora, 2021. "Predicting urban innovation from the US Workforce Mobility Network," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Besnik A. Krasniqi & Sameeksha Desai, 2016. "Institutional drivers of high-growth firms: country-level evidence from 26 transition economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1075-1094, December.
    4. Raysa Geaquinto Rocha & João J. Ferreira, 2022. "Gazelles (High-Growth) Companies: a Bibliometric Science Map of the Field," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2911-2934, December.
    5. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 2010. "Firm Growth, Institutions and Structural Transformation," Ratio Working Papers 150, The Ratio Institute.
    6. Klaus Friesenbichler, 2013. "Firm Growth in Conflict Countries: Some Evidence from South Asia," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 3, pages 33-44, May.
    7. Qifei Zhang & Congjian Sun & Yaning Chen & Wei Chen & Yanyun Xiang & Jiao Li & Yuting Liu, 2022. "Recent Oasis Dynamics and Ecological Security in the Tarim River Basin, Central Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Weijia Chen & Yongquan Lu & Guilin Liu, 2022. "Balancing cropland gain and desert vegetation loss: The key to rural revitalization in Xinjiang, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1122-1145, September.
    9. Stefano Bianchini & Giulio Bottazzi & Federico Tamagni, 2017. "What does (not) characterize persistent corporate high-growth?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 633-656, March.
    10. Juan Li & Xunzhou Chunyu & Feng Huang, 2022. "Land Use Pattern Changes and the Driving Forces in the Shiyang River Basin from 2000 to 2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-27, December.
    11. Andersson, Martin & Noseleit, Florian, 2008. "Start-Ups and Employment Growth - Evidence from Sweden," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 155, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    12. Maidana, Marcos Ignacio, 2016. "Los emprendedores tecnológicos: factores motivacionales," Nülan. Deposited Documents 2500, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    13. Christopher Goetz & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer & Kristin Sandusky, 2016. "The Promise and Potential of Linked Employer-Employee Data for Entrepreneurship Research," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 433-462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Xiwei Zhu & Ye Liu & Ming He & Deming Luo & Yiyun Wu, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and industrial clusters: evidence from China industrial census," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 595-616, March.
    15. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro, 2015. "Eco-innovation and Firm Growth: Do Green Gazelles Run Faster? Microeconometric Evidence from a Sample of European Firms. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 88," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 57897, January.
    16. Jonathan Fu & Annette Krauss, 2024. "Preparing fertile ground: how does the quality of business environments affect MSE growth?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 51-103, June.
    17. Krafft Jackie & Quatraro Francesco & Colombelli Alessandra, 2011. "High Growth Firms and Technological Knowledge: Do gazelles follow exploration or exploitation strategies?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201114, University of Turin.
    18. Xinyao Li & Lingzhi Wang & Bryan Pijanowski & Lingpeng Pan & Hichem Omrani & Anqi Liang & Yi Qu, 2022. "The Spatio-Temporal Pattern and Transition Mode of Recessive Cultivated Land Use Morphology in the Huaibei Region of the Jiangsu Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    19. Silviano Esteve-Pérez & Fabio Pieri & Diego Rodriguez, 2022. "One swallow does not make a summer: episodes and persistence in high growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1517-1544, March.
    20. Junnan Xia & Mengyao Hong & Wei Wei, 2023. "Changes and Driving Forces of Urban–Agricultural–Ecological Space in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2000 to 2020," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:24:p:11281-:d:1550556. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.