Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between entrepreneurship and values. Two perspectives are identified, the first dealing with individual differences in values (the individualistic perspective) and the second with regional differences (the social legitimization perspective). The paper includes both a theoretical review and empirical work based on two surveys of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Important differences in values between non-entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs were found. Entrepreneurs valued personal success, independence, and stimulation, more than the rest of the population, even if those values implied accepting inequalities in society. Values had virtually no power at all to discrinlinate between regions high or low in new enterprises rate.