You are what you watch: Why your TV preferences can make you more entrepreneurial

By Walter Frick

Michael Wyrwich of the University of Groningen and Viktor Slavtchev, a researcher with the German government, studied TV signals in East Germany from the 1960s to 1989 and individual and local rates of entrepreneurship there after German reunification. They found that people in households with access to West German broadcasts were more likely than other East Germans to launch companies later in life. That was especially true of those who were children or at the start of their careers.

The conclusion: the TV you watch when you’re young can make you more entrepreneurial.

Professor Wyrwich, defend your research

What you observe when you’re young affects how you behave when you’re older, and that includes the professional decisions you make.