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Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

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Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#51

Post by eternalban »

ido wrote: post #24
kayaeb wrote: post #14

There's a good book on this called "Why Nations Fail," [1] they posit that extractive economic policies (corrupted governments) essentially de-incentivize entrepreneurial businesses, while inclusive policies cause them to thrive. They use this argument to counter "Guns, Germs, and Steel" [2] to explain dramatic economic differences across country borders in similar environments. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/sho…

Interesting! Anecdotally I'm an Israeli who moved to Europe (first Austria then Germany) and at least from my layman's perspective both of these countries seem both a lot less entrepreneurial than Israel and a lot less corrupt... So I wonder if something unusual is going on or if one or more of my perceptions are wrong.

Typically, in a corrupt country, the 'take' of corrupt institutions and actors critically diminishes available (finite) Capital and distorts the distribution of what remains.

What is unusual is that Israel is the recipient of largess of the American tax payers and enjoys continual replenishment of available Capital. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#52

Post by [deleted] »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #22
paganel wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I visited Amsterdam and was interested in their history and how it took off after the invention of the corporation. I wonder if anyone has written a history of the Dutch economy that can be also accessible to non-Dutch readers (i.e. translated to either English or French or Spanish). From a very outside view (i.e. mine) the Dutch used to be a very entrepreneurial society/people in the 1600s going into the 1700s, bu…

As an American transplant to Amsterdam, here's my take: The Dutch have embedded innovation/entrepreneurship so deeply into their society, it looks very different from American-style innovation. There are so many little innovative things here that startups would never get to. It is continuous, but not relentless -- as in, it occurs within the paradigm of working hours. Further, it tends to reflect the systemic intelli…

[deleted]

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#53

Post by ceejayoz »

enriquto wrote: post #40
chewxy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this going to be a new Montesquieu's climatoethnic justification for racism?

What does it have to do with race? Aren't there people of every race in every climate?

The proportions of people with brown/black skin tend to increase as you approach the equator.

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#54

Post by bsanr2 »

kayaeb wrote: post #14

There's a good book on this called "Why Nations Fail," [1] they posit that extractive economic policies (corrupted governments) essentially de-incentivize entrepreneurial businesses, while inclusive policies cause them to thrive. They use this argument to counter "Guns, Germs, and Steel" [2] to explain dramatic economic differences across country borders in similar environments. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/sho…

Are there any failed nations without a relatively recent (<100 years) history of economic or political exploitation by a contemporary superpower?

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#55

Post by mocha_nate »

prepend wrote: post #5

I think it has something with redemption and new identities. I think societies that allow reboots lead to greater risk taking. Also capital and risk distribution. I visited Amsterdam and was interested in their history and how it took off after the invention of the corporation. Corporations can end and the knowledge from them can go into a new venture (redemption). They can also raise capital through distributed owne…

I agree 100%. Also, fun fact: the Netherlands had the first stock corporation ever: “east India trading company”

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#57

Post by protonfish »

ido wrote: post #24
kayaeb wrote: post #14

There's a good book on this called "Why Nations Fail," [1] they posit that extractive economic policies (corrupted governments) essentially de-incentivize entrepreneurial businesses, while inclusive policies cause them to thrive. They use this argument to counter "Guns, Germs, and Steel" [2] to explain dramatic economic differences across country borders in similar environments. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/sho…

Interesting! Anecdotally I'm an Israeli who moved to Europe (first Austria then Germany) and at least from my layman's perspective both of these countries seem both a lot less entrepreneurial than Israel and a lot less corrupt... So I wonder if something unusual is going on or if one or more of my perceptions are wrong.

I think there is a difference between "informal" corruption (where some officials need to be bribed) and the "institutionalized" corruption of a monolithic and completely unnecessary bureaucracy. At least in the first instance, there is a path to get things done. European bureaucracy is a tar pit where innovative business goes to die.

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#58

Post by rayiner »

bsanr2 wrote: post #54
kayaeb wrote: post #14

There's a good book on this called "Why Nations Fail," [1] they posit that extractive economic policies (corrupted governments) essentially de-incentivize entrepreneurial businesses, while inclusive policies cause them to thrive. They use this argument to counter "Guns, Germs, and Steel" [2] to explain dramatic economic differences across country borders in similar environments. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/sho…

Are there any failed nations without a relatively recent (<100 years) history of economic or political exploitation by a contemporary superpower?

A more helpful way to look at it is how countries like South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan grew so rapidly in the 20th century despite active intervention by superpowers.

South Korea in 1960 was poorer than Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, etc. About the same as Bangladesh. Today South Korea is as rich as France.

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#59

Post by petra »

Zeitgeschehen wrote: post #31
short_sells_poo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal anecdote time (please correct me if I got it wrong): go to almost any backwater German village and there'll be small/mid sized industry on the outskirts. From semi-high tech (e.g. manufacturing precision instruments) to "simpler" stuff like carpentry shops or metalworkers. In Germany, the small-mid sized business that actually builds stuff (as opposed to just services) is still pretty big. Sure, most of it i…

>Sure, most of it is invisible on the international scale, but it's there and underpins an economy of specialists. Actually a not insignificant part of these backwater businesses are so called Hidden Champions[1]. Basically, small companies who are still leader in the world market for their very specialised product. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Champion

What does "small companies" mean in this context ?

Do they do engineering or manufacturing?

And how could they maintain an advantage over so many others and of course over large companies ? Where's the r&d budget coming from ? And what about marketing ?

Re: Why Are Some Societies More Entrepreneurial than Others?

#60

Post by eeZah7Ux »

bsanr2 wrote: post #54
kayaeb wrote: post #14

There's a good book on this called "Why Nations Fail," [1] they posit that extractive economic policies (corrupted governments) essentially de-incentivize entrepreneurial businesses, while inclusive policies cause them to thrive. They use this argument to counter "Guns, Germs, and Steel" [2] to explain dramatic economic differences across country borders in similar environments. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/sho…

Are there any failed nations without a relatively recent (<100 years) history of economic or political exploitation by a contemporary superpower?

Shuss, don't wake up HN.
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