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Entrepreneurial Persistence beyond Survival: Measurement and Determinants

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  • Caliendo, Marco

    (University of Potsdam)

  • Göthner, Maximilian

    (University of Jena)

  • Weißenberger, Martin

    (University of Potsdam)

Abstract

Entrepreneurial persistence is demonstrated by an entrepreneur's continued positive maintenance of entrepreneurial motivation and constantly-renewed active engagement in a new business venture despite counter forces or enticing alternatives. It is thus a crucial factor for entrepreneurs when pursuing and exploiting their business opportunities and to realize potential economic gains and benefits. Using rich data on a representative sample of German business founders, we investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial persistence. Next to observed survival we also construct a hybrid persistence measure capturing also the motivational dimension of persistence. We analyze the influence of individual-level (human capital and personality) and business-related characteristics on both measures as well as their relative importance. We find that the two indicators emphasize different aspects of persistence. For the survival indicator, the predictive power is concentrated in business characteristics and human capital, while for hybrid persistence, the dominant factors are business characteristics and personality. Finally, we show that results are heterogeneous across subgroups. In particular, formerly-unemployed founders do not differ in survival chances, but they are more likely to lack a high psychological commitment to their business ventures.

Suggested Citation

  • Caliendo, Marco & Göthner, Maximilian & Weißenberger, Martin, 2019. "Entrepreneurial Persistence beyond Survival: Measurement and Determinants," IZA Discussion Papers 12607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12607
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gabay-Mariani, Laetitia & Paillé, Pascal & Valéau, Patrick, 2023. "The long-term persistence among nascent entrepreneurs: An fsQCA analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Ahmad Raza Bilal & Pierfelice Rosato & Raffaele Campo & Rossella Leopizzi, 2023. "Women empowerment and entrepreneurial intention: A pathway to achieve sustainable development goal (SDG‐5)," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1389-1405, May.
    3. Marco Caliendo & Alexander S. Kritikos & Daniel Rodríguez & Claudia Stier, 2023. "Self-efficacy and entrepreneurial performance of start-ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1027-1051, October.
    4. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2020. "Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0270, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    5. Lin, Nidthida & Wilden, Ralf & Chirico, Francesco & Ghasrodashti, Elahe & DeTienne, Dawn R., 2022. "Persist or let it go: Do rational entrepreneurs make decisions rationally?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4).
    6. Yan, Jiaju & Boss, Alan D. & Reger, Rhonda K., 2023. "The unrelenting entrepreneur: Taking stock of research on entrepreneurial persistence and related constructs," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    7. Elisabeth Lopez-Perez & Ana Rodriguez-Santiago & Emilio Congregado, 2020. "Persistence in Self-Employment Rates before the Great Lockdown: The Case of the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-13, August.
    8. Maribel Guerrero & Grace S. Walsh, 2024. "How do entrepreneurs build a resilient and persistent identity? Re-examining the financial crisis impact," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1963-1997, September.
    9. Uwe Cantner & Philip Doerr & Maximilian Goethner & Matthias Huegel & Martin Kalthaus, 2024. "A procedural perspective on academic spin-off creation: the changing relative importance of the academic and the commercial sphere," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1555-1590, April.
    10. Nuno António & Hugo Pinto, 2022. "Youth Associations and Entrepreneurship: Insights from Case Studies in Portugal," Merits, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-19, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    persistence; start-ups; entrepreneurship; survival;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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