Many start-ups chose to compete with incumbent firms using one of two generic strategies: cost leadership or differentiation. Our study demonstrates how this choice depends on whether the startup was founded out of necessity. Our results, based on a representative data set of 4,568 German...

Support of business start-ups is partially motivated by social policy objectives. The paper discusses these social policy objectives on a conceptual and empirical basis. Its focus is on start-ups out of unemployment. Implications for the design and the evaluation of socially motivated start-up...

Prior research has analyzed R&D spending in family and founder firms. Yet, little is known about the economic and technological importance of innovations in these types of firms. Using patent citation data, we show that founder-managed firms, which we argue favor an entrepre-neurial orientation,...

This study presents the results of a comprehensive meta-analysis on the financial performance of family firms. Drawing on a sample of 380 studies, we find that family firms show economically weak, albeit statistically significant, superior performance compared to non-family firms. Furthermore,...

This study presents the results of a meta-analysis of the financial performance of family firms. Drawing on a sample of 380 studies, we find that family firms show an economically weak, albeit statistically significant, superior performance compared to non-family firms. Furthermore, we find...