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...

Studies of the determinants of entrepreneurship have emphasized three distinct perspectives: market institutions, social networks and personal characteristics. Using data from a pilot survey with over 2,000 interviews in 7 cities across Russia, we find evidence for a particularly strong effect...

This paper attributes shortages of goods in socialist economies to the soft financial constraints that firms in such economies face. A 'soft budget constraint' problem arises when the state bank is unable to make a credible commitment not to refinance bad projects once some investment costs are...

In 1994, China began a profound reform of its state-owned enterprises (SOE). We first describe and characterize this progress in two areas: privatization of small state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at the county level and mass lay-offs of excess state workers at the city level. Local governments...

Pareto-improving economic reforms that also simultaneously achieve efficiency can be implemented through a strategy of ‘dual-track’ liberalization. Its success requires the feasibility of the original plan and its continued enforcement by the state. The Chinese experience demonstrates that...