The Cultural Roots of Firm Entry, Exit and Growth
利用瑞士语言边界的历史数据，发现祖先来自德语区的个体比法语区多创办20%的企业，且该差异代际持续，但祖先背景不影响企业退出或增长。
Abstract Can culture explain persistent differences in economic activity among individuals and across regions? A novel measure of cultural origin enables us to contrast entrepreneurial activity of individuals located in the same municipality, but whose ancestors lived just on opposite sides of the Swiss language border in the eighteenth century. Individuals with ancestry from the German-speaking side create 20% more firms than those with ancestry from the French-speaking side. These differences persist over generations and independent of the predominant culture at the current location. Yet, founder’s ancestry does not affect exit or growth of newly founded firms, suggesting that preferences are pivotal.