[anamax]

> The larger point remains - a fifty percent higher level of self-employed with incorporated businesses (which is a fairly good marker for entrepreneurship unless you can suggest a better one)

"fairly good" doesn't imply that it has enough precision to support your 50% claim.

Canadian biz law is different, so I'd expect incorporation rates to be different.

> in the country with the safety net of health insurance.

Nope - the difference is due to hockey and average temperature. After all, if you look at neighboring states, which have those things, the difference goes away.

Or, it's due to the ethnic makeup. Asians in San Jose start biz far more whites, and whites far more than Hispanics and AAs. That alone explains a lot of the difference that you're observing. (Canada is white with some asian. The US is far more diverse.)