TestThis study examines relationship between platform control and entrepreneurial emancipation in digital platform. Through a qualitative study of AliExpress and its merchant ecosystem in Yiwu, China, we identify two models of platform-entrepreneur interaction. The first model reveals how entrepreneurs respond to rule-based control through various rule-breaking practices, while the second shows how they react to market-based control by reducing platform dependency. Our findings challenge traditional views of both emancipatory entrepreneurship and platform-dependent entrepreneurship by revealing a more nuanced reality: entrepreneurs achieve emancipation not merely through resistance but through creative engagement with platform mechanisms, while platforms strengthen their control by incorporating these emancipatory practices. This study contributes to our understanding of entrepreneurial emancipation in digital contexts by revealing the complex interplay between control and autonomy.
