IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/kof/wpskof/04-97.html

Growth of New Firms: Which Factors Influence Post-Entry Performance? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data

Author

Listed:
  • David Marmet

Abstract

The aim of this study is to shed light on the factors which determine the post-entry performance of new firms. It is often argued that new firms are the driving force of structural changes and sometimes they are even characterized as an "engine" of economic growth. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence is mixed. Taking into account the high exit rate of new firms, a specific founding cohort does not contribute substantially to new jobs. In this paper, we analyse the contribution of new firms concerning the ability of creating jobs. Furthermore, we investigate the main determinants of post-entry performance, which we derive from existing theoretical concepts based on industrial economic approaches, learning models and founding characteristics. The endogenous variable is employment development. We test our model with data from the Swiss cohort of start-ups of 1996/1997. The results reveal that the important and robust factors determining the post-entry performance are changes in demand, innovation behaviour, human capital, self-financing, seed capital, consultancy and support, assets, legal form, and motives for founding a new firm, such as the possibility to implement own ideas coming from research at university or to escape from unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • David Marmet, 2004. "Growth of New Firms: Which Factors Influence Post-Entry Performance? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data," KOF Working papers 04-97, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:04-97
    DOI: 10.3929/ethz-a-004957350
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-004957350
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3929/ethz-a-004957350?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Marco Vivarelli, 2004. "Are All the Potential Entrepreneurs So Good?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 41-49, August.
    3. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March.
    4. Katrin Hussinger, 2008. "R&D and subsidies at the firm level: an application of parametric and semiparametric two-step selection models," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(6), pages 729-747.
    5. Newey, Whitney K & Powell, James L & Walker, James R, 1990. "Semiparametric Estimation of Selection Models: Some Empirical Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 324-328, May.
    6. Olsen, Randall J, 1980. "A Least Squares Correction for Selectivity Bias," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(7), pages 1815-1820, November.
    7. Zweimuller, Josef, 1992. "Survey non-response and biases in wage regressions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 105-109, May.
    8. James Heckman, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    9. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    10. Friar, John H & Meyer, Marc H, 2003. "Entrepreneurship and Start-Ups in the Boston Region: Factors differentiating High-Growth Ventures from Micro-ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 145-152, September.
    11. Barnett,William A. & Powell,James & Tauchen,George E. (ed.), 1991. "Nonparametric and Semiparametric Methods in Econometrics and Statistics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521424318, January.
    12. Williamson, Oliver E, 1981. "The Modern Corporation: Origins, Evolution, Attributes," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 1537-1568, December.
    13. Colombo, Massimo G. & Delmastro, Marco, 2002. "How effective are technology incubators?: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1103-1122, September.
    14. Schiller, Bradley R & Crewson, Philip E, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Origins: A Longitudinal Inquiry," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(3), pages 523-531, July.
    15. Brixy, Udo & Kohaut, Susanne, 1999. "Employment Growth Determinants in New Firms in Eastern Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 155-170, September.
    16. Cécile Wetzels & Aslan Zorlu, 2003. "Wage effects of motherhood: a double selection approach," NIMA Working Papers 22, Núcleo de Investigação em Microeconomia Aplicada (NIMA), Universidade do Minho.
    17. Richard Ericson & Ariel Pakes, 1995. "Markov-Perfect Industry Dynamics: A Framework for Empirical Work," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82.
    18. Francis Vella, 1998. "Estimating Models with Sample Selection Bias: A Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 127-169.
    19. Dustmann, Christian & Rochina-Barrachina, María Engracia, 2000. "Selection Correction in Panel Data Models: An Application to Labour Supply and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 162, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    21. P. Hart, 2000. "Theories of Firms' Growth and the Generation of Jobs," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 17(3), pages 229-248, November.
    22. Cooper, Arnold C. & Gimeno-Gascon, F. Javier & Woo, Carolyn Y., 1994. "Initial human and financial capital as predictors of new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 371-395, September.
    23. Thomas Hatzichronoglou, 1997. "Revision of the High-Technology Sector and Product Classification," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 1997/2, OECD Publishing.
    24. Barnett,William A. & Powell,James & Tauchen,George E. (ed.), 1991. "Nonparametric and Semiparametric Methods in Econometrics and Statistics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521370905, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. José Belso-Martínez & Xavier Molina-Morales & Francisco Más-Verdú, 2011. "How cluster membership places the mediatior effect of the internal resources on the association between KIBS and the growth of new innovative firms," ERSA conference papers ersa11p1732, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Belso-Martinez, Jose A. & Molina-Morales, F. Xavier & Mas-Verdu, Francisco, 2013. "Combining effects of internal resources, entrepreneur characteristics and KIS on new firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2079-2089.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pigini Claudia, 2015. "Bivariate Non-Normality in the Sample Selection Model," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 123-144, January.
    2. Harabi, Najib, 2003. "Déterminants de la croissance des entreprises: Une analyse empirique du Maroc [Determinants of Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis from Morocco]," MPRA Paper 4440, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Harabi, Najib, 2005. "Determinants of Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis from Morocco," MPRA Paper 4394, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Almus, Matthias, 2001. "Das Wachstum junger Unternehmen: Eine Bestandsaufnahme 10 Jahre nach der Wiedervereinigung," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-40, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Puhani, Patrick A., 1997. "Foul or Fair? The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique. A Short Survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 97-07, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Claudia PIGINI, 2012. "Of Butterflies and Caterpillars: Bivariate Normality in the Sample Selection Model," Working Papers 377, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    7. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2009. "Defending Gibrat’s Law as a long-run regularity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 31-44, January.
    8. repec:lic:licosd:11402 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Fryges, Helmut, 2004. "Productivity, Growth, and Internationalisation: The Case of German and British High Techs," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-79, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    11. Donald, Stephen G., 1995. "Two-step estimation of heteroskedastic sample selection models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 347-380, February.
    12. Lewbel, Arthur, 2007. "Endogenous selection or treatment model estimation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 777-806, December.
    13. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(3), pages 455-488, June.
    14. Leung, Siu Fai & Yu, Shihti, 1996. "On the choice between sample selection and two-part models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1-2), pages 197-229.
    15. Audretsch, David B & Klomp, Luuk & Thurik, A R Roy, 1997. "Do Services Differ From Manufacturing? The Post-Entry Performance of Firms in Dutch Services," CEPR Discussion Papers 1718, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Engel, Dirk, 2002. "The Impact of Venture Capital on Firm Growth: An Empirical Investigation," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-02, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Wright, Mark, 2004. "Firm Size Dynamics in the Aggregate Economy," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt4rs4202s, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    18. Sule Ozler & Erol Taymaz, 2004. "Does foreign ownership matter for survival and growth? Dynamics of competition and foreign direct investment," ERC Working Papers 0406, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Mar 2004.
    19. Luís M B Cabral & José Mata, 2003. "On the Evolution of the Firm Size Distribution: Facts and Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1075-1090, September.
    20. Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Donald, Stephen G., 2008. "The effect of college curriculum on earnings: An affinity identifier for non-ignorable non-response bias," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 479-491, June.
    21. Martin Huber & Giovanni Mellace, 2014. "Testing exclusion restrictions and additive separability in sample selection models," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 75-92, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:04-97. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/koethch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.