Abstract
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the 15 newly independent countries had a decision to make: to reinstate their old economic and political ties or to enter into new economic alliances. Two main country groups emerged: the European Union (EU)-oriented and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)-oriented groups. In this chapter, we introduce the use of mental models in order to explore the possible influence of individual cognition on changing or perpetuating existing institutional arrangements and attitudes toward entrepreneurship. It is argued that CIS countries are more likely to accept commonly held Soviet-based attitudes toward institutions and entrepreneurship as the norm, further reinforced through inter-CIS-based migration and media control.
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Notes
- 1.
Though Moldova joined the CIS in 1994, it has increasingly become more oriented toward the EU.
- 2.
The Ukraine was never a full member of the CIS but retains its CIS associate member status.
- 3.
Georgia withdrew its membership to the CIS in 2008.
- 4.
Even though Azerbaijan is a member of the CIS, it has cultivated strong ties with Turkey.
- 5.
Turkmenistan never officially joined the CIS; however, it is an associate member of the CIS.
- 6.
Russia and Belarus forged a politico-economic union in 1996.
- 7.
A study of clientelism in the Indian state of Maharashtra showed that even though the prevailing institutions are detrimental, the historical distribution of power and prestige between groups affects perceptions of their credibility and thus can perpetuate these inequities (WB 2015b: 70).
- 8.
In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela, the first black president in South Africa, recounts an incident that helps illustrate the unconscious and often contradictory impact of mental models. Mandela noticed that the pilot of his airplane in Ethiopia was black and his initial reaction was to doubt the abilities of the pilot because he had never seen a black man fly a plane before (in WB 2015b: 68).
- 9.
In West Bengal India, a policy change was adopted to increase the numbers of women holding political offices through affirmative action. As a result, some villages had female leaders for the first time. Just 7 years exposure to women leaders reduced men’s bias in evaluating women in leadership positions (Beaman et al. 2012).
- 10.
Peter Thiel is best known as the cofounder of PayPal in the USA.
- 11.
A paradoxical situation in which countries with an abundance of nonrenewable resources experience stagnant growth or even economic contraction
- 12.
In 2013, an amnesty for thousands for Russian businessmen convicted of economic crimes was announced but in reality affected only 12,000 prisoners, while thousands more remain behind bars (Boyde 2013).
- 13.
According to the 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking by Compass (2015)
- 14.
Google, Twitter, and Facebook which currently have operations in Russia have been warned not to violate Russia’s Internet rules (Kharpal 2015).
- 15.
The EDB’s analysis excludes the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) which are all members of the European Union.
- 16.
Mobile entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs who cross several national boundaries with a minimum reference to the relevant state legal systems making economic gains often in the informal sector (Turneva 2014).
- 17.
As are many post-Soviet Central Asian countries. For further discussion see Freedman and Shafer (2011).
- 18.
However, Kazakhstan has introduced new regulations to reclaim media control in its borders. Starting in 2016, no foreign channels carrying advertising will be allowed to be retransmitted in the country. Given that all Russian channels have advertising, this will in effect mean a ban on these channels. Further, from the beginning of 2017, foreign TV companies will have to open offices in Kazakhstan. A 20% limit on foreign ownership of such companies operating in Kazakhstan will also come into effect.
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Aidis, R. (2017). Staying in the Family: The Impact of Institutions and Mental Models on Entrepreneurship Development in Post-Soviet Transition Countries. In: Sauka, A., Chepurenko, A. (eds) Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57342-7_2
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