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 non￾entrepreneurs. 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 reli￾gious. 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 child￾hood 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