This paper contributes to the senior entrepreneurship and rural entrepreneurship literature by developing a contingency view on the likelihood of entrepreneurial entry by senior individuals in rural areas in emerging economies. Drawing on utility maximization theory, we propose that multi-level factors and their joint effects help older individuals overcome barriers to entrepreneurial entry. Using data from the Chinese Labour-force Dynamics Surveys (CLDS), comprising 8,692 individual-year observations in 209 villages in 2012, 2014 and 2016, our results reveal that individual geographical mobility experience attenuates the negative effect of older age on entrepreneurial entry in rural areas. Although village democratic governance does not independently mitigate this negative effect, its interaction with individual geographical mobility experience does. Our research has theoretical and policy implications for understanding senior entrepreneurial entry in rural areas of emerging markets and addressing the challenges posed by an ageing society.

Full article available on Taylor & Francis website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08985626.2025.2452283