How much of entrepreneurial performance is sheer luck compared to talent, experience, education, and hard work? We define luck as unexpected performance and look for an answer in a large survey of entrepreneurs. Accordingly, luck ranks last in importance among various success factors and...

As firms have more assets in place, more of management's limited attention is focused on managing assets in place rather than developing new growth options. Consequently, as firms grow older, they have fewer growth options and a lower ability to generate new growth options. This simple theory...

The paper examines whether and in what sense traders on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX) are influenced by what happens on Wall Street. According to the results, the SWX reacts strongly when U.S. macroeconomic news relevant to Wall Street is disclosed. Moreover, SWX traders seem to wait with...

As firms grow older, their profitability seems to decline. We first document this phenomenon and show that it is very robust. Then we offer two non-exclusive explanations of why firms may age. First, corporate aging could reflect a cementation of organizational rigidities over time. Consistent...