In a column that ran in this space last
October, called "Business Attracts the Best and the Brightest," I
discussed a study conducted by an international team of economists
from the World Bank; the University of California, Berkeley; and the
Center for Economic and Financial Research, whose Moscow office was
represented by its academic director, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. The
study revealed, among other things, that in Russia entrepreneurs
were smarter, harder working and more mobile than their fellow
citizens.
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This year, the
authors of that study released the results of an analogous survey
conducted in China. Now we can compare Russian businessmen not just
with the average residents of this country but also with their
Chinese counterparts. Both the Russian and the Chinese studies
covered seven cities, including the capital.
We are accustomed to the fact that when Russia is
compared with economically developed countries -- the members of the
Group of Seven, for example -- the corruption of the Russian
government and the weakness of our institutions for defending
property rights invariably come to the fore. It is rather more
disconcerting that a comparison with China highlights the very same
problems.
At both the local and regional levels, Chinese
entrepreneurs encounter fewer problems that have been created by the
state than in Russia.
Corruption in state agencies and the courts affects
business more severely in Russia than in China. Chinese businessmen
are convinced that the courts afford better protection against
government excesses.
It comes as no surprise that according to the
studies Russian businessmen are more prepared to break the law, and
in particular to pay bribes. On the bright side, Russian
entrepreneurs have more faith in people, while their Chinese
colleagues place greater faith in the state.
The number of entrepreneurs per capita in China is
50 percent higher than in Russia, and it's well known that
entrepreneurial activity is one of the main drivers of economic
growth. In Russia, the difference between the personal traits of
entrepreneurs and those of people not involved in business is less
marked than in China. This difference comes out in specific
individual traits as well, such as entrepreneurs' attitude toward
risk and their estimate of the difficulties of doing business.
The studies show that although Russian businessmen
encounter more serious problems than the Chinese, people in China
who are not involved in business consider it more complex and
dangerous than do their Russian counterparts. Although comparing the
mindset and work habits of people in different countries is no
simple task, we can say that Russians on the whole are more mobile
than the Chinese both professionally and geographically.
Next year, the authors will release the results of a
similar study in India, followed by studies of Nigeria and Brazil.
By the end, the survey will have encompassed nearly half of the
earth's population.
If it emerges that Russian entrepreneurs are less
inclined to trust the regional authorities than the Indians, or that
they accept risk more readily than the Brazilians, the results will
be discouraging but not damning.
But if we learn that businessmen in this country
regard the courts as more corrupt than the Nigerians do theirs, we
will have serious cause for concern.
Konstantin Sonin, professor at the New Economic
School/CEFIR, is a columnist for Vedomosti, where this comment first
appeared.
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