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Age of managers and employees – Firm survival

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  • Backman, Mikaela
  • Karlsson, Charlie

Abstract

Many developed countries will face a disproportionately large share of older individuals in the future. This change may lead to a labour force characterized by older employees and older operational managers. This paper contributes to the existing literature on the effect of aging on firm performance by performing an explorative analysis of how the age of the operational manager and the age composition of employees relate to the survival of Swedish firms during 2004–2013. We observe that the relationship between the age of the operational manager and firm exit changes functional shape when separated into different firm-size categories. Additionally, the age of the operational manager tends to be more important for new firms compared to incumbents. The share of older employees is positively associated with firm survival.

Suggested Citation

  • Backman, Mikaela & Karlsson, Charlie, 2020. "Age of managers and employees – Firm survival," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:15:y:2020:i:c:s2212828x19301021
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2019.100215
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Age; Operational manager; Employees; Firm survival; Firm size; Firm age;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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