IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/afr111/v3y2014i2p112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Empirical Description of Billionaires

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew A. Anabila
  • Eunyoung Whang

Abstract

We investigate why some countries such as the U.S. have more billionaires than others. And why some countries (e.g., China, Russia, India) have turned out increasing number of billionaires in recent years whereas some others (e.g., Japan) experienced decreases. To explain this phenomenon, we use country level factors (i.e., culture, economic development, and law and order tradition) and an individual factor (i.e., education). We use six aspects of Hofstede et al.’s (2010) culture variables to examine which dimensions of culture foster billionaires. To explain billionaires’ effort at the individual level, we examine the role of education in billionaires’ ability to accumulate and sustain their wealth in the future. Using 11,783 individual observations from annual Forbes “The World’s Billionaires List†from 1999 to 2013, we find that billionaires are bred not born- in cultures with more power distance, more individuality, less masculinity, and more long-term orientation, individuals have more chance to become billionaires and promote their wealth. In addition, the degree of individuals’ education affects their ability to create wealth as well as to sustain it in the future. Our findings have supports in literature on psychology, labor economics and signaling theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew A. Anabila & Eunyoung Whang, 2014. "An Empirical Description of Billionaires," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(2), pages 112-112, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:3:y:2014:i:2:p:112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/download/4381/2606
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/view/4381
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.
    2. Ruta Aidis & Julia Korosteleva & Tomasz Marek Mickiewicz, 2008. "Entrepreneurship in Russia," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 88, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    3. Michael A. Hitt & David Ahlstrom & M. Tina Dacin & Edward Levitas & Lilia Svobodina, 2004. "The Institutional Effects on Strategic Alliance Partner Selection in Transition Economies: China vs. Russia," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 173-185, April.
    4. Marta A. Geletkanycz, 1997. "The salience of ‘culture’s consequences’: the effects of cultural values on top executive commitment to the status quo," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(8), pages 615-634, September.
    5. McGrath, Rita Gunther & MacMillan, Ian C. & Yang, Elena Ai-Yuan & Tsai, William, 1992. "Does culture endure, or is it malleable? Issues for entrepreneurial economic development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 441-458, November.
    6. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    7. Scott Shane, 1995. "Uncertainty Avoidance and the Preference for Innovation Championing Roles," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 26(1), pages 47-68, March.
    8. Patrick M. Kreiser & Louis D. Marino & Pat Dickson & K. Mark Weaver, 2010. "Cultural Influences on Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Impact of National Culture on Risk Taking and Proactiveness in SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(5), pages 959-984, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shirokova, Galina V. & Sokolova, Liubov S., 2013. "Exploring the Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Russian SMEs: The Role of Institutional Environment," Working Papers 819, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University.
    2. Alexander Kalita & Alexander Chepurenko, 2020. "Competitiveness of Small and Medium Businesses and Competitive Pressure in the Manufacturing Industry," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 36-50.
    3. Turró, Andreu & Urbano, David & Peris-Ortiz, Marta, 2014. "Culture and innovation: The moderating effect of cultural values on corporate entrepreneurship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 360-369.
    4. Schøtt, Thomas & Jensen, Kent Wickstrøm, 2016. "Firms’ innovation benefiting from networking and institutional support: A global analysis of national and firm effects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1233-1246.
    5. Bat Batjargal, 2012. "The Effects Of Network???S Structural Holes: Polycentric Institutions, Product Portfolio, And New Venture Growth In China And Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1033, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva & Julia Korosteleva, 2012. "Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Higher Education Institutions: Evidence from the Post-Communist World," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 120, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    7. Julia Korosteleva & Maksim Belitski, 2017. "Entrepreneurial dynamics and higher education institutions in the post-Communist world," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 439-453, March.
    8. Bat Batjargal & Michael Hitt & Anne Tsui & Jean-Luc Arregle & Justin Webb & Toyah Miller, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs' Social Networks, and New Venture Growth," Post-Print hal-02276709, HAL.
    9. Bat Batjargal, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs??? Social Networks, And New Venture Growth," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1060, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Makhmadshoev, Dilshod & Ibeh, Kevin & Crone, Mike, 2015. "Institutional influences on SME exporters under divergent transition paths: Comparative insights from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1025-1038.
    11. Shirokova Galina & Knatko Dmitri & Vega Gina, 2013. "To Be or Not to Be: When Should a Threshold Firm in an Emerging Market Move to Professional Management?," EERC Working Paper Series 13/01e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    12. Dirk De Clercq & Dominic S.K. Lim & Chang Hoon Oh, 2013. "Individual–Level Resources and New Business Activity: The Contingent Role of Institutional Context," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(2), pages 303-330, March.
    13. Patrick M. Kreiser & Louis D. Marino & Pat Dickson & K. Mark Weaver, 2010. "Cultural Influences on Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Impact of National Culture on Risk Taking and Proactiveness in SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(5), pages 959-984, September.
    14. Schmutzler, Jana & Andonova, Veneta & Díaz Serrano, Lluís, 2015. "When culture does (not) matter: role models and self-efficacy as drivers of entrepreneurial behavior," Working Papers 2072/247806, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    15. James C. Hayton & Gerard George & Shaker A. Zahra, 2002. "National Culture and Entrepreneurship : A Review of Behavioral Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(4), pages 33-52, July.
    16. Jana Schmutzler & Veneta Andonova & Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2019. "How Context Shapes Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy as a Driver of Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Multilevel Approach," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(5), pages 880-920, September.
    17. R. Sandra Schillo & Ajax Persaud & Meng Jin, 2016. "Entrepreneurial readiness in the context of national systems of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 619-637, April.
    18. Daniel Alonso-Martínez & Nuria González-Álvarez & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "Does international patent collaboration have an effect on entrepreneurship?," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 539-559, December.
    19. Suman Banerjee & Saul Estrin & Sarmistha Pal, 2022. "Corporate disclosure, compliance and consequences: evidence from Russia," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(17), pages 1770-1802, November.
    20. Diana Escandon-Barbosa & David Urbano-Pulido & Andrea Hurtado-Ayala, 2019. "Exploring the Relationship between Formal and Informal Institutions, Social Capital, and Entrepreneurial Activity in Developing and Developed Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:3:y:2014:i:2:p:112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sciedu Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.