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Life and Death of Businesses: A Review of Research on Firm Mortality

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  • Morris James R

    (University of Colorado, Denver)

Abstract

Neither the literature of finance nor the literature of valuation practitioners has taken account of the relatively short life expectancy of firms. Fewer than fifty percent of new firms live longer than ten years; yet, it is common practice to estimate firm value with a very long term horizon model such as the constant growth model. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the life expectancy of firms and show how to take account of the likelihood of firm death in valuation. Data on firm death rates and life expectancy that is available in the field of industrial organization is reviewed and summarized so that valuation practitioners can take it into account in their valuations.

Suggested Citation

  • Morris James R, 2009. "Life and Death of Businesses: A Review of Research on Firm Mortality," Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-41, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:jbvela:v:4:y:2009:i:1:n:3
    DOI: 10.2202/1932-9156.1050
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Muggleton, Naomi & Rahal, Charles & Reeves, Aaron, 2025. "Capitalizing on a crisis: a computational analysis of all five million British firms during the Covid-19 pandemic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127228, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Denis Fougère & Golfier, C. & Guillaume Horny & Elisabeth Kremp, 2013. "What has been the impact of the 2008 crisis on firms default? (in French)," Working papers 463, Banque de France.
    3. Jalilvand, Abol & Kim, Sung Min, 2013. "Matching slack resources and investment strategies to achieve long-term performance: New perspectives on corporate adaptability," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 38-52.
    4. Fernández Martín, Andrés & Gulan, Adam, 2012. "Interest Rates and Business Cycles in Emerging Economies: The Role of Financial Frictions," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4129, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Juan A. Forsyth, 2019. "An alternative formula for the constant growth model," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 24(48), pages 221-240.
    6. Paul Luk & Tianxiao Zheng, 2020. "Foreign Direct Investment and Debt Financing in Emerging Economies," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(4), pages 863-905, June.
    7. Markman, Gideon M. & Venzin, Markus, 2014. "Resilience: Lessons from banks that have braved the economic crisis—And from those that have not," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1096-1107.
    8. Andrés Fernández & Adam Gulan, 2015. "Interest Rates, Leverage, and Business Cycles in Emerging Economies: The Role of Financial Frictions," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 153-188, July.
    9. Paul Luk & Tianxiao Zheng, 2022. "Dynamics of Secured and Unsecured Debt Over the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 44, pages 284-314, April.
    10. Reis Pedro Nogueira & Augusto Mário Gomes, 2015. "What Is a Firm’s Life Expectancy? Empirical Evidence in the Context of Portuguese Companies," Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 45-75, January.
    11. Naomi Muggleton & Charles Rahal & Aaron Reeves, 2025. "Capitalizing on a Crisis: A Computational Analysis of all Five Million British Firms During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Papers 2502.09383, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2025.
    12. Naomi Muggleton & Charles Rahal & Aaron Reeves, 2025. "Capitalizing on a crisis: a computational analysis of all five million British firms during the Covid-19 pandemic," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 1-29, May.
    13. Stevenson, Lois & Daoud, Yousef & Sadeq, Tareq & Tartir, Alaa, 2010. "Global entrepreneurship monitor: GEM-MENA regional report 2009 (Middle East and North Africa)," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 50336, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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