Research on family firms provides mixed evidence of the effect of family ownership on firm performance and exit outcomes. Drawing on threshold theory and the socioemotional wealth perspective, we argue that family firms have lower performance thresholds than non-family firms, reducing the...

We theorize that both highly rational entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs with a high need for cognitive closure (NFCC) are likely to put more emphasis on retrospective factors (period and degree of underperformance, personal investments) and less on prospective factors (risk of going into default,...

According to economic theory, under-performing firms should be selected out of the market. However, research shows that these firms persist, often for long periods of time. In this article we explore the non-firm-performance factors that contribute to the decision to persist with an...

We develop a conceptual model of entrepreneurial exit which includes exit through liquidation and firm sale for both firms in financial distress and firms performing well. This represents four distinct exit routes. In developing the model, we complement the prevailing theoretical framework of...

In this chapter we look at exit as a multidimensional and multidisciplinary phenomenon that may involve processes and outcomes operating at multiple levels of analysis. We do so because entrepreneurship research is often considered a phenomenon-driven academic field (Shane, 2003; Sorenson and...

Much of the research on entrepreneurial exit has focused upon exit as a dichotomous outcome whereby exit is viewed negatively and survival, positively. This perspective is quite different from that of practicing entrepreneurs, who are more likely to be concerned with various types of exits,...