Do entrepreneurs matter?

Arbeitspapier

In the large literature on firm performance, economists have given little attention to entrepreneurs. We use deaths of more than 500 entrepreneurs as a source of exogenous variation, and ask whether this variation can explain shifts in firm performance. Using longitudinal data, we find large and sustained effects of entrepreneurs at all levels of the performance distribution. Entrepreneurs strongly affect firm growth patterns of both very young firms and for firms that have begun to mature. We do not find significant differences between small and larger firms, family and non-family firms, nor between firms located in urban and rural areas, but we do find stronger effects for founders with high human capital. Overall, the results suggest that an often overlooked factor - individual entrepreneurs - plays a large role in affecting firm performance.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 4088

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Firm Behavior: Theory ; Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity ; Labor Demand ; Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms ; Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope ; Corporate Finance and Governance: Other
• Subject: entrepreneurship ; firm performance ; human capital ; Unternehmer ; Unternehmenswachstum ; Unternehmenserfolg ; Schätzung ; Norwegen

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Becker, Sascha O. ; Hvide, Hans K.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/69563
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET