The Value of Patience and Start-up Firms: A Re-Examination of Entry Timing for Emerging Markets

Abstract

We investigate how changing technological and industry conditions in emerging markets, driven by product innovation, affect the exit rates of start-up versus established firms. We find that these changing conditions have different outcomes for start-up and established firms. We assert that the higher rates of exit for start-ups compared to established firms is due to start-up firms' lower ability to adapt both to technology and industry changes that occur with technological progress. We test this assertion by comparing the rate of exit of start-up firms to established firms that entered the U.S. personal computer market between 1975 and 1988.