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The Role of Employees for Post-Entry Firm Growth

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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 like size, age or industry affiliation, a possible impact of the characteristics of a start-up’s workforce on post-entry growth has been widely neglected in the literature so far. Based upon a comprehensive panel dataset of establishments in Germany, this paper contributes to fill this gap and examines the role of the initial employment structure with respect to qualification, age, gender and nationality for post-entry employment growth measured both in terms of employees and in terms of full-time equivalents. Moreover, it is analyzed whether the use of flexible work forms like regular part-time and / or marginal employment in the year of foundation affects post-entry growth. Our empirical results confirm that in particular the initial qualification structure of a start-up’s employees matters for post-entry growth. Establishments using flexible work forms show higher post-entry growth with respect to total hours worked, but a significantly lower growth with respect to the number of employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Koch & Jochen Späth & Harald Strotmann, 2012. "The Role of Employees for Post-Entry Firm Growth," IAW Discussion Papers 78, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaw:iawdip:78
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Daniel Fackler & Michaela Fuchs & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Do Start-ups Provide Employment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(5), pages 1123-1148, October.
    3. Do, Hang & Duong, Kiet Tuan & Huynh, Luu Duc Toan & Vu, Nam T., 2025. "The Real effects of Brexit on labor demand: Evidence from firm-level data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. Maria Cristina Arcuri & Ivan Russo & Gino Gandolfi, 2025. "Productivity of innovation: the effect of innovativeness on start-up survival," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 1111-1169, June.
    8. Manuela Pardo-del-Val & Elvira Cerver-Romero & Juan Francisco Martinez-Perez & Antonia Mohedano-Suanes, 2025. "From Startup to Scaleup: Public Policies for Emerging Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 7874-7907, June.
    9. 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).
    10. Li, Bin & Pan, Ya, 2025. "Digital inclusive finance and rural entrepreneurial survival: The moderating role of digital and financial literacy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1119-1136.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. repec:iab:iabdpa:201817 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. 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.
    19. Astrid Kunze & Bram Timmermans, 2024. "Gender diversity in founding teams and hiring," GRAPE Working Papers 99, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    20. 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).
    21. 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.
    22. repec:ptu:bdpart:e202309 is not listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    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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