MORE LIKE EACH OTHER THAN ANYONE ELSE - A CROSS-CULTURAL-STUDY OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PERCEPTIONS

This article examines the idea, that there is a basic set of beliefs that entrepreneurs hold about themselves and about others in their society that, from the perspective of the entrepreneur, differentiate the two. The article suggests that this set of beliefs transcends cultures, and that these perceived differences may be linked to entrepreneurial activity. Analysis of survey responses from over 700 entrepreneurs in nine countries found that even among culturally very different societies there is a core set of perceptions, common across countries, that entrepreneurs hold about others in their countries. This supports the first two parts of the proposition, and suggests that entrepreneurial behavior may indeed stem from a pervasive set of entrepreneurial beliefs.