Modeling the relationship between networking and firm performance

Network theory suggests that successful business ownership might depend on the ability of owners to gain access to resources not under their control in a cost effective way through networking. To date, however, there has been little empirical support for this proposition, particularly for established firms. The results of this study, based on a large longitudinal database, indicate a significant positive relationship between networking (particularly with formal networks such as external accountants) and both firm survival and, to a lesser extent, growth, but not ROE. Further, network intensity is found to be associated with survival, and network range with growth.     

Does a “survival-by-exporting” effect for SMEs exist?

The trade literature has long discussed the existence of some benefits attributed to exporting (learning-by-exporting), among others, the improvement in survival chances. This paper examines whether exporting SMEs enjoy better survival prospects than non-exporting SMEs. We investigate the determinants of survival of exporting and non-exporting SMEs and explore whether the exporting behaviour plays a significant role in explaining their probability of exit. For this purpose, we estimate discrete time proportional hazard models that account for unobserved individual heterogeneity. The dataset is a sample of Spanish manufacturing SMEs drawn from the Encuesta sobre Estrategias Empresariales (ESEE) for 1990–2002. After controlling for firm, industry and economy characteristics, we find evidence supporting the existence of a sizeable “surviving-by-exporting” effect. That is, exporting SMEs face a significantly lower probability of failure than non-exporters.     

The duration of new firms in banking: an application of Cox regression analysis

This paper studies the duration of two cohorts of entrants in the Italian financial intermediation industry. Using the Cox (1972) Proportional Hazards Model, it analyses the link between duration of each newborn firm and its start-up size, as well as a series of industry-specific characteristics. It emerges that not only did regulatory reform in 1990 result in a process of branch proliferation and industry concentration, but it also set in motion a pre-entry selection mechanism. Conversely, before completion of the regulatory reform, in 1989, entry was possible even for very small firms, and larger new entrants survived longer than their smaller counterparts, and this independently of the features of spatial and structural competition. First version received: Nov. 98/final version received: Oct. 99     

Survival of full versus partial acquisitions: The moderating role of firm’s internationalization experience,cultural distance,and host country context characteristics

The high divestment rates of acquired foreign units indicate challenges connected to planning and management of foreign acquisitions. In this paper we analyze the moderating effect of internal and external variables on the relationship between acquirers’ ownership strategy and survival of acquired foreign units. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 1275 acquisitions conducted by Finnish firms in various countries during the period 1980–2005. The results indicate that the probability of survival does not differ significantly between full and partial acquisitions. We further find that the likelihood of survival in full, relative to partial acquisitions, is positively associated with the acquisition-specific experience, but inversely related to general international and target country experience. The results also reveal that the positive impact of full acquisitions is stronger if the acquisitions are made in culturally similar countries, in less developed economies, and in markets where the country risk has increased after entry.     

Characteristic properties of multivariate survival functions in terms of residual life distributions

This paper discusses the relationships among some characteristic properties of the multivariate survival function based on the residual life distribution, and provides the conditions for their equivalence. In the meanwhile, the corrected version of Ma (1996, Theorem 1 (ii) and (iii)) is given.     

向美而存的人生——论福柯“生存美学”思想的当代意义

当下单一的生存观,造成了空前的精神危机,个体的生命呈现着心甘情愿的被物质功利奴役的状态,导致了近现代以来个体生命普遍的虚无主义以及伴随一生的焦虑感。福柯的"生存美学"可以让个体重新打量自己的生活心态与世界的关系,以追求个体美的生命体验的心态去生存,则生命会呈现出更辽阔的风景。     

Run length and the predictability of stock price reversals

Survival analysis is used to estimate time‐varying probabilities of price reversals using daily data for the Australian All Ordinaries Price Index. Lagged price changes lead to persistence (shortening) in a price run if they are of the same (opposite) sign as the run. An increase in the number of runs observed in the previous 30 days also increases the probability of price reversal. The predictive accuracy of the models is assessed using a probability scoring rule. Consistent with market efficiency, the estimated models are less accurate than the random walk model in predicting the length of individual price runs out‐of‐sample.     

Self-employment of Chinese rural labor force: Subsistence or opportunity?—An empirical study based on nationally representative micro-survey data

Self-employment is an essential form of non-agricultural employment, and its nature has been rarely identified in recent studies. From the perspectives of the human capital, social capital, and family assets of rural laborers, this study focuses on determining self-employment by using the nationally representative data on the rural labor force in China. Through the static comparative analysis between three groups of laborers in self-employment, wage employment, farming, and the dynamic comparative analysis of laborers entering into and exiting from self-employment, the study shows that self-employment of rural laborers in China is almost opportunity-driven or moving toward opportunistic self-employment. Human capital, social capital, and family assets promote rural laborers shifting from wage employment to self-employment and stimulate the establishment of high-value enterprises. The study suggests that local governments should increase the investments in rural education and vocational skills training and strengthen the availability of rural credit to lay a good foundation for self-employment activities in rural areas.     

Franchise failure: a reassessment of the Bates (1995) results

Franchising is often touted as a safe route to business ownership in the service arena. Yet findings by Bates (J Small Bus Manage 33(2):26–36, 1995) suggest that franchising may be a riskier alternative for prospective business owners than starting a non-franchised business. We contend that this conclusion is inappropriate because flaws in Bates’ study lend themselves to alternative interpretations of his results. The most critical flaws and plausible alternative interpretations are explained, and implications for prospective business owners are discussed.     

Nonlinear stochastic effects of substitution — an evolutionary approach

Technological innovations have been investigated by means of substitution and diffusion as well as evolution models, each of them dealing with different aspects of the innovation problem. In this paper we follow the well known research traditions on self-organisation models of complex systems. For the first time in the literature we show the existence of a specific niche effect, which may occur in the first stage of establishment of a new technology. Using a stochastic Master equation approach, we obtain analytical expressions for the survival probabilities of a new technology in smaller or larger ensembles. As a main result we demonstrate how a hyperselection situation might be removed in a stochastic picture and thresholds against the prevailing of a new technology in a step-by-step process can be overcome.