Abstract:This paper explores the changes of entrepreneurs' innovative spirit from their age factor based on the data from China Employer-Employee Survey 2015. It has examined the causal relationship between the entrepreneurs' age and their spirit of innovation by using OLS and 3SLS regression and showed that a significant U-shaped relationship exists between entrepreneurs' age and their spirit of innovation. By further calculations on the U-inflection point, it has been found that the entrepreneurs between 50.8-52.7 years old have a significantly lower spirit of innovation than other age entrepreneurial groups, and are confronted with "middle-age innovation bottlenecks". Therefore, it is recommend to promote the transition from "institution-oriented entrepreneurs" to "innovation-oriented entrepreneurs" and enhance the upgrading of entrepreneurial groups, which helps the middle-aged entrepreneurs overcome their "middle-age innovation bottlenecks".
Key words: entrepreneurs, age effect, entrepreneurs' innovative spirit, middle-age innovation bottlenecks