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The Shadows of the Past - How Implicit Institutions Influence Entrepreneurship

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Author Info
Stefan Bauernschuster () (University of Jena)
Oliver Falck (Ifo Institute for Economic Research)
Robert Gold (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena)
Stephan Heblich (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena)

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Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of implicit institutions on the decision to become an entrepreneur. Implicit institutions are here defined as mindsets that have developed as the result of norms and traditions and we expect they will have an influence on risk attitudes and opportunity recognition. We conduct a natural experiment based on Germany's recent history and compare individuals born and raised in the former socialist East Germany (GDR) with their West Germany (FRG) counterparts. Our analysis confirms the expected difference in values between individuals from East and West Germany and also shows that these differences influence the probability of being self-employed. In the process of our analysis, we also sketch the ongoing economical transition process in East Germany, which severely disturbs a proper analysis of the institutional differences from a macro-perspective.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics, Thueringer Universitaets- und Landesbibliothek in its series Jena Economic Research Papers in Economics with number 2009-044.

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Date of creation: 15 Jun 2009
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Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2009-044

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Related research
Keywords: Implicit Institutions; Entrepreneurship; Socialism; Capitalism;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
P39 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Other

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This page was last updated on 2009-11-18.

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