Summary: E-commerce, as the most important component of the digital economy, is an important driving force to enhance urban entrepreneurial activity. Based on the theory of entrepreneurial ecosystem, this paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework of city-enterprise entrepreneurial ecology, and explores the impact and mechanism path of e-commerce development on urban entrepreneurial activity using a multi-period double difference model with the national e-commerce demonstration city policy as a quasi-natural experiment. It is found that e-commerce development significantly increases urban entrepreneurial activity, and there is a significant Matthew effect and industry orientation of this enhancement effect, with stronger promotion effects in the eastern region, high administrative level regions, tertiary industry, and non-productive service industry. The mechanism analysis shows that at the city level, e-commerce development enhances urban entrepreneurial activity by promoting talent clustering, attracting venture capital, promoting technological innovation, and strengthening government strategic leadership. At the enterprise level, e-commerce development can play a role in saving transaction costs and easing financing constraints to enhance urban entrepreneurial activity. The economic consequence analysis shows that the entrepreneurial effect of e-commerce development can be effectively transformed into an employment creation effect. The findings of the study clarify the entrepreneurial effect of e-commerce development and provide useful references for the implementation of national e-commerce demonstration city policies and the realization of stable employment.

Keywords: Urban entrepreneurial activity; e-commerce; entrepreneurial ecosystem; national e-commerce demonstration cities; staggered difference-in-differences model