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The role of employees for post-entry firm growth

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  • Andreas Koch
  • Jochen Späth
  • Harald Strotmann

Abstract

While the majority of existing studies on the determinants of post-entry firm growth focus on the role of the founders or on the impact of firm-specific characteristics, possible effects of the characteristics of a start-up’s workforce have been widely neglected to date. In this paper we examine the role of initial worker and job characteristics (e.g., qualification, age, workload, marginal employment) of start-ups for their post‐entry employment growth. The analyses are based upon a capacious panel dataset comprising a representative 50 % sample of establishments in Germany. Our empirical results show that, inter alia, high-skilled and young workers are conducive to growth in terms of both the number of employees and full-time equivalents. With respect to flexible work forms, however, establishments using part-time employment show higher post‐entry growth only in terms of total hours worked, but a significantly lower growth with respect to the number of employees. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Koch & Jochen Späth & Harald Strotmann, 2013. "The role of employees for post-entry firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 733-755, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:41:y:2013:i:3:p:733-755
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-012-9456-6
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    2. Diego A. B. Marconatto & Gaspar A. Peixoto & Emidio G. Teixeira & Adelar Fochezatto, 2022. "Women on the Front Line: The Growth of SMEs during Crises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Fackler, Daniel, 2014. "Establishment survival in East and West Germany: A comparative analysis," Discussion Papers 90, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    4. Andrea M. Herrmann & Cornelia Storz & Lukas Held, 2022. "Whom do nascent ventures search for? Resource scarcity and linkage formation activities during new product development processes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 475-496, January.
    5. Del Sarto, Nicola & Isabelle, Diane A. & Di Minin, Alberto, 2020. "The role of accelerators in firm survival: An fsQCA analysis of Italian startups," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 90.
    6. Chun Yang & Bart Bossink & Peter Peverelli, 2017. "High-tech start-up firm survival originating from a combined use of internal resources," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 799-824, December.
    7. Udo Brixy & Martin Murmann, 2025. "Hiring opportunities for new firms and the business cycle," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1387-1413, March.
    8. Nuno Silva & Pedro Dias Moreira, 2023. "On the forecasting power of corporate sales growth determinants," Economic Bulletin and Financial Stability Report Articles and Banco de Portugal Economic Studies, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    9. Daniel Fackler & Claus Schnabel & Alexandra Schmucker, 2016. "Spinoffs in Germany: characteristics, survival, and the role of their parents," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 93-114, January.
    10. Werner Liebregts & Pourya Darnihamedani & Eric Postma & Martin Atzmueller, 2020. "The promise of social signal processing for research on decision-making in entrepreneurial contexts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 589-605, October.
    11. Fackler, Daniel & Schnabel, Claus, 2013. "Survival of Spinoffs and Other Startups: First Evidence for the Private Sector in Germany, 1976-2008," IZA Discussion Papers 7542, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Viktorija Petrov & Đorđe Ćelić & Zorica Uzelac & Zoran Drašković, 2020. "Three pillars of knowledge management in SMEs: evidence from Serbia," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 417-438, June.
    13. Astrid Kunze & Bram Timmermans, 2024. "Gender diversity in founding teams and hiring," GRAPE Working Papers 99, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    14. Rocha, Vera & van Praag, Mirjam C. & Folta, Timothy B. & Carneiro, Anabela, 2016. "Entrepreneurial Choices of Initial Human Capital Endowments and New Venture Success," IZA Discussion Papers 9919, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Hay, Georgia & Ward, M.K. & Doorn, Sebastiaan van & Parker, Sharon & Schepis, Daniel, 2025. "The role of work design in entrepreneurship: A review and meta-framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    16. Lukas Held & Andrea M. Herrmann & Allard Mossel, 2018. "Team formation processes in new ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 441-464, August.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Start-ups; Post-entry performance; Firm growth; Human capital; Marginal employment; Germany; D22; J21; J24; L25; L26; M13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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