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The Swedes sure seem to think so. Per capita Swedish entrepreneurship is like 7x the rest of the euro zone, and they’re convinced that it’s that aspect of the s

The Swedes sure seem to think so. Per capita Swedish entrepreneurship is like 7x the rest of the euro zone, and they’re convinced that it’s that aspect of the social safety net that help prop up that high level of personal risk taking.

Twirrim 2y ago
Most (all?) of the Euro Zone has "free" Healthcare, so it's not just that. (I put free in quotes to avoid any reply guy "itself not actually free" blah, blah, blah)
pjc50 2y ago
> Per capita Swedish entrepreneurship is like 7x the rest of the euro zone That sounds worthy of deeper investigation, but healthcare is unlikely to be the factor?
- cushychicken 2y ago
  The swedes do claim this is one of the things that leads to higher entrepreneurship, but yeah, it's certainly not an explanation in and of itself. Good contrary example is the UK - they also have the NHS, but real estate is so expensive that they can't generally acquire premises for HW labs. I'm on mobile and can't search well but it's a topic that's been discussed on HN many times before.
sofixa 2y ago
It's not the only factor for sure, but it definitely contributes. Jokingly Swedish and Spanish colleagues have said that weather probably plays a part too - because it's so cold outside, lots of time is spent indoors - some of it with friends socialising or chilling (they even have a word for it, Fika), but not only. So you have lots of opportunities to read, think, explore, experiment. In contrast, in Spain the weather is often nice and sunny, so you're outside more often, with friends, drinking and eating. You don't really have a lot of alone time at home to think and tinker and innovate. It's purely anecdotal, but there might be something to it.
- rrr_oh_man 2y ago
  That sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_determinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_determinism
Nifty3929 2y ago
I wonder what the Norwegians think?

Twirrim 2y ago

Most (all?) of the Euro Zone has "free" Healthcare, so it's not just that. (I put free in quotes to avoid any reply guy "itself not actually free" blah, blah, blah)

pjc50 2y ago

> Per capita Swedish entrepreneurship is like 7x the rest of the euro zone That sounds worthy of deeper investigation, but healthcare is unlikely to be the factor?

cushychicken 2y ago
The swedes do claim this is one of the things that leads to higher entrepreneurship, but yeah, it's certainly not an explanation in and of itself. Good contrary example is the UK - they also have the NHS, but real estate is so expensive that they can't generally acquire premises for HW labs. I'm on mobile and can't search well but it's a topic that's been discussed on HN many times before.

sofixa 2y ago

It's not the only factor for sure, but it definitely contributes. Jokingly Swedish and Spanish colleagues have said that weather probably plays a part too - because it's so cold outside, lots of time is spent indoors - some of it with friends socialising or chilling (they even have a word for it, Fika), but not only. So you have lots of opportunities to read, think, explore, experiment. In contrast, in Spain the weather is often nice and sunny, so you're outside more often, with friends, drinking and eating. You don't really have a lot of alone time at home to think and tinker and innovate. It's purely anecdotal, but there might be something to it.

rrr_oh_man 2y ago
That sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_determinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_determinism

Nifty3929 2y ago

I wonder what the Norwegians think?