I recently stumbled across this paragraph, in an article about Russian entrepreneurship:

Andrei Sharov, Director of the Department of State Economic Regulation in the Economic Development and Trade Ministry (MERT), suggests that for Russian private business to develop, promotion at various levels is needed. “I recall the results of a sociological study: Whom do Russian women prefer to marry? And entrepreneurs were at the bottom of the list. This is very important. If we don’t change women’s preferences, then I think few people will want to be entrepreneurs,” Sharov joked. Support for entrepreneurship, in his opinion, must be displayed not only in state policy, but also in the family, at all levels of the educational system, and in public opinion.

The article goes on to discuss how cultural differences affect innovation. In particular, Sergey Borisov, President of OPORA Rossii, an all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, added, “Russian and American entrepreneurs are alike in some (more…)