Institutional Capital, Ancestral Hall, and the Reshaping of Ancient Rule: an Empirical Analysis of the New Energy of Chinese Heritage Elements in Rural Revitalization

• Published in: Journal of the knowledge economy 2024-03, Vol.15 (1), p.2726-2760
• Main Authors: Zhang, Frank Lee, Ayoungman, Fairtown Zhou, Islam, Md. Shoriful
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cultural heritage; Economic growth; Economic Policy; Economics; Economics and Finance; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; R & D/Technology Policy; Rural areas; Rural development
• ISSN: 1868-7865; 1868-7873
• DOI: 10.1007/s13132-023-01243-7

In rural areas of China, the ancestral hall is a unique traditional cultural icon, exerting a long-lasting influence on rural development. However, the institutional structuring effect of ancestral halls on rural economies in the current century has been ignored. The impact of ancestral halls on the regional economy of the town level in Fujian Province is explored in this paper using data from the China Statistical Yearbook and ancestral halls from Fujian’s provincial cultural heritage protection list. Based on the research, it is evident that the quantity and size of ancestral halls correlate positively with economic growth. The ancestral hall promotes economic growth through its endogenous institutional shaping function as a vital vehicle for institutional capital. This article argues that during the rural revitalization process, practitioners, and policymakers should maximize the use of traditional cultural institution elements to foster rural institution evolution and thus establish a mechanism for effective rural social governance and entrepreneurial innovation. This paper fills the gap of comprehensive research on specific cultural icons in economics and provides empirical sample of the knowledge economy research for further exploring the interactive relationship between entrepreneurship and knowledge inheritance.