Risk Taking under Transition: An Empirical Comparison between Chinese, Western-, and Eastern-German Managers

Even after 10 years, countries under transition are still an their way to becoming developed, internationally competitive countries. At this stage it is helpful for business cooperation to know whether managers in countries undergoing transition are behaving like socialists or Western managers, or somewhere in between. Many joint ventures and other alliances between Western companies and companies in countries in transition are seeking to establish new markets with new products or new technologies (i.e., new processes) . They are risky because the returns are uncertain . Understanding the risk attitudes of managers in countries in transition can explain different investment behavior and provide vital information for installing the right incentives. This study compares the risk attitudes of Chinese, eastern, and western German managers . Chinese managers' risk attitudes seem to be more similar to the attitudes of western German managers than to those of their counterparts