Are entrepreneurial cultures stable over time? Historical evidence from China

• Are entrepreneurial cultures stable over time? In this paper, we use historicalmeasures of the outgrowth of entrepreneurial culture in China and test whether these correlate with entrepreneurial activities today. We employ provincial panel data from China documenting the regional distribution of entrepreneurial activities during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) and private firm activities in post-reform China (1992–2012). Our study finds a significant association between the regional distribution of historical and current measures of entrepreneurship, supporting (1) the long-term stability of underlying regional cultural differences; and (2) the adaptability of entrepreneurial activities to changing institutional arrangements and relative payoff structures. These results are robust to numerous alternative explanations, including geography, agglomeration advantages, education, and technology.Our findings suggest that government efforts to encourage new business ventures—if they are to have more than short-term effects—will need to take into account local cultural norms.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial culture

Long-term stability

Private firms

China

L26

M13

N35

P31

R11

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)