BILLIONS OF ENTREPRENEURS

Entrepreneurship in the world's 2 most populous nations, China and India, has through modern times been somewhat asleep. But now, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna in a new book, both societies "have woken up," and the results could reshape business, politics, and society worldwide.
"In some sense people in these societies are running faster than their rules and laws can keep up. So they are creating the rules as they go along. And entrepreneurship is, after all, doing things in new ways, ahead of social norms and customs, and establishing the rules and laws. In both countries, these processes are unfolding not just in the mainstream business sector but in society writ large and even in politics and civil society," says Khanna.
Khanna speaks in great depth about China and India’s complementary strengths, and how “mutualism” between both nations can facilitate each other’s weaknesses. This contention is by no means new material.
Khanna reinforces the notion that the government is the entrepreneur in China. He describes the Chinese government as hierarchical and authoritarian, placing low priority on individual rights. He describes India as fervently democratic, often at the expense of efficiency. Moreover, Khanna contests that Indian entrepreneurs have little faith in the Indian government and try to avoid it at all costs. This, again, is not new information.

In addition, "Billions of Entrepreneurs" serves as a historic dialogue correlating similarities in both Chinese and Indian history. Khanna discusses the colonization of both countries by the British and other nations in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. He explores the significant political revolutions of both countries in the mid-20th century: China’s 1949 Communist revolution and Mao Zedong; India’s 1947 independence and Nehru.

Khanna also discusses the use of hard and soft power by China and India respectively. Again, this is not a new topic. China leverages its solidarity and might to secure regions of long-term resource interests. It has used strong-arm tactics with many of its neighbors, and unflinchingly forms alliances with despotic regimes in Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, India’s private sector has leveraged its success in its knowledge economy to gain global economic relevance. India’s capital markets are also strong and act as a market-based mechanism to incentivize competion within the country.

For the first time since the rise of Western capitalism, entrepreneurs in China and India can ignore New York and London—and still build companies worth billions. Thanks to social and economic revolutions, Asia has captured the best minds and money from all around the world.
In Billions of Entrepreneurs, Tarun Khanna uses on-the-ground stories and thorough research to show how China and India are embracing the world on their own distinct terms. Entrepreneurs are powering change through new business models and bringing hope to countless people. Through intriguing, often provocative comparisons of triumphs and travails in both countries, the author illuminates such critical areas as:
• The challenges of governing 2.4 billion people with entrepreneurial tendencies
• The need for information accessibility, transparency, and reliability
• The balance between private property rights and public interests
• The need to encourage and fund indigenous enterprise
• The role of overseas Chinese and Indians in development back home
• The rise of medical tourism and the inequality of health care