ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CHINA AND RUSSIA COMPARED kov Ekaterina Zhuravskaya 1.Introduction The recent development and transition literatures have emphasized the impor sect nd rong and y small and me A vitt 1997 oach to dynamism is fundamental for inovation and growth stand the de in five large developingand sition countrie:Russ Nigeria.The include both entrepreneurs and non-entre in terms c Dut forwanppre personality traits:(2)sociological variables such as family background,socialori gins,social networks,values,and beliets;and (3)perceptions of @econ.Berkelev edu:roland 280y20642-33水5-365 zwu002060321" -2006/627-page352-#制
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 352 — #1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CHINA AND RUSSIA COMPARED Simeon Djankov World Bank Yingyi Qian University of California Berkeley Gérard Roland University of California Berkeley Ekaterina Zhuravskaya CEFIR Abstract We compare results from a pilot study on entrepreneurship in China and Russia. Compared to non-entrepreneurs, Russian and Chinese entrepreneurs have more entrepreneurs in their family and among childhood friends, value work more relative to leisure and have higher wealth ambitions. Russian entrepreneurs have a better educational background and their parents were more likely to have been members of the Communist Party but Chinese entrepreneurs are more risk-taking and greedy and have more entrepreneurs among their childhood friends. (JEL: M13, 012, P12) 1. Introduction The recent development and transition literatures have emphasized the importance of a strong and healthy small and medium enterprise sector for economic growth and development. Endogenous growth theory (Aghion and Howitt 1997) has emphasized the Schumpeterian approach to growth which advances that entrepreneurial dynamism is fundamental for innovation and growth. We have launched a research project trying to better understand the determinants of entrepreneurship using surveys of individuals that are being conducted in five large developing and transition countries: Russia, Brazil, China, India, and Nigeria. The samples include both entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in order to understand how these groups differ in terms of three broad sets of variables put forward in social sciences as factors that potentially affect entrepreneurship: (1) individual characteristics such as skills, education, and intellectual and personality traits; (2) sociological variables such as family background, social origins, social networks, values, and beliefs; and (3) perceptions of the institutional, Acknowledgments: We thank Irina Levina and Xiaolu Wang for excellent research assistance, and the International Finance Corporation for financial support. E-mail addresses: Djankov: sdjankov@worldbank.org; Qian: yqian@econ.Berkeley.edu; Roland: groland@econ.berkeley.edu; Zhuravskaya: EZhuravskaya@cefir.ru Journal of the European Economic Association April-May 2006 4(2–3):352–365 © 2006 by the European Economic Association
Djankovet al.Entrepreneurship inChina and Russia 353 social,and economicenvi that husinesses face wh esearch has very much emphasized the mole of credit institutions (Baneriee and Newman 1993)or of institutions securing property rights (Johnson,McMillan 2;B y1995 Che Glaeser,an 00.E to take a more c factors play in promoting entrepreneurship acrossa variety of settings. romapilot survey conducted 2.The Data In both russia and china.we surveved individuals in seven large cities in four dif. ferent regions.To capture some of the regional heterogeneity in these countries to maximize the cros: egions v ation in the bus and Dzershinsk in the Ni Oblast: Permskaya Oblast:and in Rostov on the Don and Taganrog in the Ros n China.the survey w as cor nd Zh in Xi'An and Baoji in Shaanxi Province. In each country, scow and Beijing and in the fall of 2004 in China.We define as an ow r-manager of a business with five or more employees because we wanted to make sure that indi viduals who we cal trepreneurs in our sample are ore than just self- mploye uve of about 550 non-er epreneurs in the same cities using a similar instrument.We defined non-entrepreneurs as individuals who are no ess.Non-en s to place during t出 ndents in the non-entrepreneur sample were chosen randoml conditional on matching the age,gender,and educational attainment of entrepreneurs from the respective e trepreneur surveys and 20% wer sen at a y.I uals(with the same breakdown across cities)asking nine questions about their For d entreprene s and 550 non-er was the targe of es fai The g “zwu002060321"-2006/6/27-page353-#2
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 353 — #2 Djankov et al. Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 353 social, and economic environment that businesses face. Whereas recent economic research has very much emphasized the role of credit institutions (Banerjee and Newman 1993) or of institutions securing property rights (Johnson, McMillan, and Woodruff 2002; Besley 1995; Che and Qian 1998; Djankov, Glaeser, and Schleifer 2002; Frye and Zhuravskaya 2000; Roland and Verdier 2003), we want to take a more comprehensive approach and try to disentangle the role these factors play in promoting entrepreneurship across a variety of settings. This paper reports and compares some findings from a pilot survey conducted in Russia in 2003–2004 and in China in 2004–2005. 2. The Data In both Russia and China, we surveyed individuals in seven large cities in four different regions. To capture some of the regional heterogeneity in these countries, the regions were selected to maximize the cross-regions variation in the business climate. In Russia, the survey was done in Moscow; in Nizhny Novgorod and Dzershinsk in the Nizhegorodskaya Oblast; in Perm and Chaykovsky in the Permskaya Oblast; and in Rostov on the Don and Taganrog in the Rostovskaya Oblast. In China, the survey was conducted in Beijing; in Wuhan and Huangshi in Hubei Province; in Guangzhou and Zhongshan in Guangdong Province; and in Xi’An and Baoji in Shaanxi Province. In each country, we first surveyed a random sample of about 400 entrepreneurs—100 in Moscow and Beijing metropolitan areas and 50 in each of the other six cities. These surveys were conducted in the fall of 2003 in Russia and in the fall of 2004 in China. We define entrepreneur as an owner-manager of a business with five or more employees because we wanted to make sure that individuals who we call entrepreneurs in our sample are more than just self-employed. After completion of the surveys of entrepreneurs in the respective countries, we conducted a survey of about 550 non-entrepreneurs in the same cities using a similar instrument.1 We defined non-entrepreneurs as individuals who are not working for their own business. Non-entrepreneur surveys took place during the spring of 2004 and 2005 in Russia and China, respectively. In both countries 80% of respondents in the non-entrepreneur sample were chosen randomly conditional on matching the age, gender, and educational attainment of entrepreneurs from the respective entrepreneur surveys and 20% were chosen at random. Finally, in each country a short survey was run among a random sample of 1,200 individuals (with the same breakdown across cities) asking nine questions about their 1. For hundred entrepreneurs and 550 non-entrepreneurs was the target sample size given to the survey firms in both countries. In reality, these firms interviewed a slightly larger number of individuals to make sure that in the end we had the targeted number of valid questionnaires. The actual number of observations in the empirical analysis depends on the response rates for each particular question
Joumal of the European Economic Association onal charac or not the Cie.lhaofteaeghepsiheotbsepaioaisancwciehiedCtepeneu equal to t well as the city size. 3.Comparing Entrepreneurs to Non-entrepreneurs in China and Russia In this section.we su marize differences in individual characteristics.social environment,values,beliefs,and perceptions of institutionl nvironment for We report means 一n First,we summarize differencesin individual characteristics ofentrepre across jobs an reneurs and have had a her number of distinct iiesAlthough these differences have the same sig n Chin are statistically insignificant.In C ina,howeve r.entrepreneurs worked in a job te common perception that ntrepreneurship is associated with risk-taking.entrepreneurs report significantly lower risk aversion than non sked ents wer ng t 12 and lose $20 with proba -77%of entrepreneurs in Russia and90%of entrepreneurs in China ponded yes"(c ompared to 67%and 57%of non-entrepreneurs in Russia and eport higher levels of satisfaction with life compared to non- (preneurs.First.in Russia.a signifcantly higher share yes to the n Chi e happy compared 'zwu002060321 -2006/6/27-page354-#3
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 354 — #3 354 Journal of the European Economic Association personal characteristics, including a question about whether or not they are an entrepreneur or self-employed to get data on prevalence of entrepreneurship across cities. In all of the empirical analysis, the observations are weighted with weights equal to the inverse of the probability for a particular respondent (entrepreneur or non-entrepreneur) to get into our sample. The weights reflect differences in entrepreneurship, age, gender, and education across cities in the population, as well as the city size. 3. Comparing Entrepreneurs to Non-entrepreneurs in China and Russia In this section, we summarize differences in individual characteristics, social environment, values, beliefs, and perceptions of institutional environment for entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in both countries. We report means for entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in both countries on various questions from the survey. In order to have comparability, the means are conditional on gender, age, and education (with a quadratic term) of respondents and on city dummies. The standard errors and p-values for the differences in means between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs are adjusted to allow for clustering of the error terms at the level of cities (Table 1). First, we summarize differences in individual characteristics of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs on average are more mobile across jobs and geographically. In Russia, entrepreneurs have lived in significantly more localities than non-entrepreneurs and have had a significantly higher number of distinct professional activities. Although these differences have the same sign in China, they are statistically insignificant. In China, however, entrepreneurs worked in a significantly higher number of industries compared to non-entrepreneurs. This is in line with recent findings of Lazear (2002) who surveyed the population of former Stanford MBA students and found that those with a higher number of jobs and shorter job tenures before business school were most likely to become entrepreneurs afterwards. In line with a common perception that entrepreneurship is associated with risk-taking, entrepreneurs report significantly lower risk aversion than nonentrepreneurs. When asked whether respondents were willing to accept one of two risk-neutral gambles—(1) win $10 with probability 1/2 and lose $10 with probability 1/2 or (2) win $20 with probability 1/2 and lose $20 with probability 1/2—77% of entrepreneurs in Russia and 90% of entrepreneurs in China responded “yes” (compared to 67% and 57% of non-entrepreneurs in Russia and China, respectively). Entrepreneurs report higher levels of satisfaction with life compared to nonentrepreneurs. First, in Russia, a significantly higher share of entrepreneurs (92%) answered “yes” to the question whether they are happy compared to 73% of non-entrepreneurs. In China, this difference has the same sign but is
Djankov et al.Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 355 1 F 1.1:1 店9图8的838终9日是名J 音年黄手年黄黄; 3a88g88g烂8片388 背厨 65含e月房质系行牙 指 “zwu002060321"-2006/6/27-Page355-#4
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 355 — #4 Djankov et al. Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 355 Table 1. Entrepreneurs in Russia and China (comparison of means). Russia China p-value p-value for test of for test of Non- difference Non- difference Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Individual characteristics Number of localities lived 2.42 2.18 0.01 *** 1.85 1.55 0.15 Number of distinct professional activities 2.76 2.54 0.06 * 2.40 2.13 0.24 Number of industries respondent worked in 1.85 1.58 0.00 *** Accept a risk neutral gamble, % 77 67 0.00 *** 90 57 0.01 *** Very happy or quite happy in life, % 92 73 0.00 *** 92 91 0.76 Very successful or quite successful in life, % 74 37 0.00 *** 64 43 0.01 *** Good health, self described, % 12 07 0.00 *** 51 37 0.09 * Got ill last week, % 25 30 0.02 ** 04 08 0.00 *** Height, cm 172.58 172.38 0.43 169.04 168.22 0.02 *** Married, % 74 60 0.00 *** 84 80 0.53 Number of children 1.34 1.31 0.22 1.19 99 0.00 *** Religious believer, % 68 78 0.00 *** 12 08 0.09 * Cognitive text score 3.32 3.15 0.15 3.92 3.80 0.62 Top 10% in secondary school (self reported), % 44 34 0.00 *** 37 38 0.82 Top 10% in high school, college or university (self reported), % 41 38 0.13 36 38 0.10 Speak foreign language, % 38 58 0.01 ** 35 49 0.22 Motivation, greed Retire if won 100 times GDP per capita, % 08 27 0.00 *** 05 24 0.02 ** Retire if won 500 times GDP per capita, % 18 29 0.00 *** 14 37 0.00 *** (Continued)
356 Journal of the European Economic Association $ 号后号等8 日兰些$卡两女吉 黄主 ;主柱;年黄 888 8g8gg8月8 车车公8丰的行型济 uM I :wn 'zwu002060321 2006/6/27-page356-#5
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 356 — #5 356 Journal of the European Economic Association Table 1. Continued Russia China p-value p-value for test of for test of Non- difference Non- difference Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Retire if won 5000 times GDP per capita, % . .. 31 44 0.05 * Not retire if won a large sum: I like what I do, % 82 69 0.00 *** 74 75 0.93 Not retire if won a large sum: I want more money, % 50 28 0.00 *** 70 43 0.01 *** Not retire if won a large sum: my work serves useful social purpose, % 70 37 0.00 *** 18 81 0.00 *** Sociological characteristics Father has secondary special or higher education, % 73 48 0.00 *** 29 27 0.57 Mother has secondary special or higher education, % 73 48 0.00 *** 14 18 0.46 Father was a boss or director, % 19 12 0.00 *** 30 13 0.02 ** Mother was a boss or director, % 08 00 0.00 *** 06 03 0.10 Father was a worker or employee without special education, % 43 44 0.43 56 72 0.01 ** Mother was a worker or employee without special education, % 30 53 0.00 *** 70 71 0.86 Father was a member of the communist party, % 48 37 0.00 *** 40 31 0.42 Mother was a member of the communist party, % 19 12 0.01 *** 10 15 0.01 *** Members of the family were running business, % 57 34 0.00 *** 49 24 0.00 ***
35 草用 日8器兽9888目 8 主年至含:i营t 888gg88g883 至日 所车的公的将房志5的年 92 “zwu002060321"-2006/6/27-page357-#6
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 357 — #6 Djankov et al. Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 357 Had childhood friends who became entrepreneurs, % 59 37 0.00 *** 45 28 0.01 ** Had adolescent friends who became entrepreneurs, % 67 48 0.00 *** 60 24 0.00 *** Values Friends are very important, % 43 53 0.01 *** 60 66 0.16 Relations with parents are very important, % 84 92 0.00 *** 86 88 0.10 * Financial well-being is very important, % 53 58 0.02 ** 73 62 0.08 * Leisure time is very important, % 23 26 0.02 ** 19 20 0.85 Health is very important, % 75 80 0.00 *** 93 88 0.20 Service to others is very important, % 21 29 0.00 *** 19 19 0.92 Political freedom is very important, % 62 74 0.03 ** 73 28 0.00 *** Power is very important, % 10 07 0.00 *** 32 26 0.01 ** Work is very important, % 75 53 0.00 *** 80 63 0.00 *** Intellectual achievement is very important, % 43 49 0.00 *** 24 33 0.02 ** Values of legal social norms Not paying a fare can be justified to some degree, % 77 76 0.68 08 05 0.48 Shirking at work can be justified to some degree, % 54 58 0.27 23 07 0.00 *** Accepting a bribe can be justified to some degree, % 32 18 0.00 *** 19 06 0.00 *** (Continued)
358 Joural of the European Economic Association 学鉴gg图8台等8 清8的两导的房牌只吉 黄8,。主 后昌昌338蓉 游有 附定翠名名的为尺导华干 治的 zwu002060321 2006/6/27-page358-#7
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 358 — #7 358 Journal of the European Economic Association Table 1. Continued Russia China p-value p-value for test of for test of Non- difference Non- difference Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs in means Trust Most people can be trusted, % 16 22 0.05 ** 56 54 0.79 Have a lot of trust in family members, % 90 86 0.00 *** 96 92 0.48 Have a lot of trust in friends, % 49 48 0.17 58 58 0.98 Have a lot of trust in colleagues, % 26 20 0.02 ** 38 33 0.46 Have a lot of trust or some trust in businessmen, % 61 66 0.06 * 71 46 0.02 ** Have a lot of trust or some trust in subordinates, % 79 82 0.06 * 95 83 0.02 ** Have a lot of trust or some trust in other people from town, % 54 85 0.00 *** 42 50 0.29 Have a lot of trust or some trust in foreigners, % 44 70 0.00 *** 29 38 0.39 Have a lot of trust or some trust in local government officials, % 40 40 1.00 69 59 0.07 * Have a lot of trust or some trust in regional government officials, % 39 42 0.38 68 64 0.43 Have a lot of trust or some trust in central government officials, % 40 41 0.76 75 75 0.99 Individual perceptions of institutions People in your town are favorable toward entrepreneurs, % 67 65 0.36 68 60 0.33 Local government is favorable toward entrepreneurs, % 49 53 0.26 82 70 0.00 ***
Djankovet al.Entrepreneurship inChina and Russia 店目$8曾等8茵 主。黄主黄主效 g营88兰88目 。8的88下尺9 8 “zwu002060321”-2006/6/27-page359-#s
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 359 — #8 Djankov et al. Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 359 Regional government is favorable toward entrepreneurs, % 51 61 0.01 *** 78 76 0.74 Central government is favorable towards entrepreneurs, % 57 62 0.08 * 81 90 0.10 * Private entrepreneurs pay bribes to avoid regulations, % 72 83 0.00 *** 50 54 0.57 Private entrepreneurs pay bribes to change rules, % 56 69 0.00 *** 40 50 0.39 Businessmen are subject to theft of property, % 88 85 0.18 70 98 0.08 * Would go to court against a business relation if cheated, % 66 71 0.01 ** 90 88 0.48 Would go to court against a government official if abused, % 62 72 0.00 *** 80 73 0.00 *** It is relatively easy to find money to start a business in town, % 21 16 0.02 ** 38 26 0.28 Note: The reported differences in means are conditional on city-level variation, age, gender, education, and education squared. Standard errors (and p-values) are adjusted to allow clusters of error term at the level of cities. *Significant at 10% level; **Significant at 5% level; ***Significant at 1% level
360 Journal of the European Economic Association insignificant.Second.entrep rt to be in significantly better health tha non-entrepreneur in both countries.Finally,entrepreneurs are taller than non ina.In on,enue ed ry more Riten and ha ve mor hRSTenleauhbetoftchildrensignifcanlnChinaoay nile the schopere mpoanerences penee e couond eurs tend to be reli gious.However,religiosity is very low in China (1 among entrepreneurs)and relatively high in Russia(68%) ers in school,but this Thev seored ihertan non-entrenreneusn dt est)b nce that elates to leis -work choic of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs.Respondents were asked whether they d a windf: I income of 100 o 500 times (5.000 time less likely to re snond nositi rs In both countries ofor notring was the desire to cam more money.In ng socially useful also played a significant role red to non-entre larger share of parents of Russian (vs.4)achieved higher There are no di ssiaand 30%vs.13%in C hina)Ir Russia,both parents of entrepreneurs were more likely to have been members of rty,but n in China.Not only is there no significant diffe A very large diffe that emerges in both and in Russia and 49%in China.c ectively 346 and 240 am )Respondenthirchl e and t n to report how many of the nve ha ve becom is striking In China.for%of entrepreneurshad adolescent friends who became entrepreneurs compared to 24%among non-entrepreneurs. zwu002060321 -2006/627-page360-#9
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 360 — #9 360 Journal of the European Economic Association insignificant. Second, entrepreneurs report to be in significantly better health than non-entrepreneurs in both countries. Finally, entrepreneurs are taller than nonentrepreneurs. The difference in height is statistically significant only in China. In addition, entrepreneurs marry more often and have more children. The difference in percent married is significant in Russia and insignificant in China; while the difference in the number of children is significant in China only. There are important differences between the two countries in religiosity and school achievement of entrepreneurs compared to non-entrepreneurs. Russian entrepreneurs tend to be less religious but Chinese entrepreneurs are more religious. However, religiosity is very low in China (12% among entrepreneurs) and relatively high in Russia (68%). Russian entrepreneurs report to have been higher achievers in school, but this is not the case for China. Entrepreneurs tend to speak fewer foreign languages, an interesting fact. They scored higher than non-entrepreneurs on a test of cognitive ability, focusing on short-term recall (a digit-span test, available from the authors upon request) but the difference is not significant. Another important difference that emerges relates to leisure-work choices of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Respondents were asked whether they would retire if they received a windfall income of 100 or 500 times (5,000 times also in China) the annual GDP per capita of the country. Entrepreneurs were much less likely to respond positively than non-entrepreneurs. In both countries, a very strong reason for not retiring was the desire to earn more money. In Russia, job satisfaction and a feeling of being socially useful also played a significant role but not in China, where one finds the opposite. Now let us focus on social environment. Compared to non-entrepreneurs, a larger share of parents of Russian entrepreneurs (73% vs. 48%) achieved higher or special education. There are no differences in parents’ education in China. Nevertheless, fathers of entrepreneurs in both countries were more likely to have been bosses or directors (19% vs. 12% in Russia and 30% vs. 13% in China). In Russia, both parents of entrepreneurs were more likely to have been members of the Communist Party, but not in China. Not only is there no significant difference for fathers in China but mothers of entrepreneurs were less often members of the Communist Party (10% compared to 15% for non-entrepreneurs). A very large difference that emerges in both countries is the proportion of entrepreneurs in one’s family and among one’s friends. Entrepreneurs in both countries are much more likely to have entrepreneurs in their family (57% in Russia and 49% in China, compared to respectively 34% and 24% among non-entrepreneurs). Respondents were asked to name five friends from their childhood and adolescence and then to report how many of these five have become entrepreneurs. The difference in response for entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs is striking. In China, for example, 60% of entrepreneurs had adolescent friends who became entrepreneurs compared to 24% among non-entrepreneurs
Djankovet al.Entrepreneurship inChina and Russia 361 We also asked tically significant differences between entre hed to wor 75%of Ru san and 80%c and 63%for non-en preneurs in Russia and China This is consistent with the labor-leisure preferences reported above.Note that Chinese entrepreneurs valu m very strongly c ed non-entrepre 3%Vs.289 epreneurs (6 vs.74%even though they value. relations with parents significantly less than non-ntreprenurs en 10 that bri in the business environment rather than intinsie values Chinese ent consider that shirking at work can be justified.We asked many question ns abou are considera ly difference in China.Itis worth notin that Russians coth entrepreneurs and non epreneurs)trust the goverment at an levels substantally less than Chinese ast some trust in th Finally.we compare individual perceptions of entrepreneurs and non- the institutional environment co ntro ing for the average eneurs find th cal goverment is mor In Russia,entrepreneurs find that local goverment is less favorable (only 499 of positive ansv ven though the difference is not signincant.In general r ing their at entrepreneurs.In China.it is only more negative with respect to the central age of positive ans rs is higher tha epreneurs in nd to repreneurs.In China,it is the opposite.When asked if they would go to cour if abuse d by a gove roughly7 say yes n in entrepreneurs respor ively wherea ntre do To summarize the main results of this section,entrepreneurs in both countries g and have m ore en epreneurs in their families and among the cence frienc y an dy Rus C款enoeegaepeeptionofheinsimiomalcmvioamaminwhchthgy “zwu002060321"-2006/6/27-page361-#10
“zwu002060321” — 2006/6/27 — page 361 — #10 Djankov et al. Entrepreneurship in China and Russia 361 We also asked questions about values and beliefs. Although there are statistically significant differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, the magnitude of the differences is not very large except for a few cases. A major difference is the value attached to work: 75% of Russian and 80% of Chinese entrepreneurs consider work to be very important in their life compared to 53% and 63% for non-entrepreneurs in Russia and China. This is consistent with the labor–leisure preferences reported above. Note that Chinese entrepreneurs value political freedom very strongly compared to non-entrepreneurs (73% vs. 28%) whereas Russian entrepreneurs value political freedom significantly less than nonentrepreneurs (62% vs. 74%) even though they value it highly. Entrepreneurs seem to value relations with parents significantly less than non-entrepreneurs in both countries. Asked about social norms, entrepreneurs in both countries consider that bribes are more acceptable. This probably reflects their greater experience in the business environment rather than intrinsic values. Chinese entrepreneurs consider that shirking at work can be justified. We asked many questions about trust, but no strong pattern emerged. Russian entrepreneurs are considerably less trustful of foreigners and of people out of town whereas there is no significant difference in China. It is worth noting that Russians (both entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs) trust the government at all levels substantially less than Chinese (for example, 37% of respondents had at least some trust in the central government in Russia compared to 77% in China). Finally, we compare individual perceptions of entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs about the institutional environment controlling for the average differences across cities. Chinese entrepreneurs find that local government is more favorable to entrepreneurs (82% positive answers vs. 70% for non-entrepreneurs). In Russia, entrepreneurs find that local government is less favorable (only 49% of positive answers) even though the difference is not significant. In general, the perception of different levels of government regarding their attitude to entrepreneurs is more negative among Russian entrepreneurs compared to nonentrepreneurs. In China, it is only more negative with respect to the central government and even there the percentage of positive answers is higher than in Russia. Entrepreneurs in China also feel more secure with respect to theft of property. Russian entrepreneurs tend to distrust the courts more than nonentrepreneurs. In China, it is the opposite. When asked if they would go to court if abused by a government official, roughly 72% say yes in both countries. However, only 62% of Russian entrepreneurs respond positively whereas 80% of Chinese entrepreneurs do. To summarize the main results of this section, entrepreneurs in both countries are risk-taking and have more entrepreneurs in their families and among their childhood and adolescence friends. Entrepreneurs value work very highly and are greedy. Russian entrepreneurs tend to come from a higher educational background but have a more negative perception of the institutional environment in which they