Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 1997 Edition Return to 1997 Topical Index Order hard copy editions of Frontiers of  Entrepreneurship Research by mail

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The Literature on Business Failures

Theoretical Background

METHODOLOGY

Sample and Data Collection

Analysis

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

TABLE 3

TABLE 4

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

Independant Variable

Dependant Variables

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship studies typically identify small business closures as business failures. Existing research is problematic because of the current definition of failures and the way failures have been measured in the past. This paper differentiates between failures and closures, and examines the characteristics of each using a national sample of micro enterprises in the Dominican Republic. Our findings revealed that 50% of the closed businesses should not be classified as failures. Using a discriminant analysis, we find that the occupation taken after firm disappearance, is the most significant predictor distinguishing between outright failure and other forms of closure.

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Last Updated 03/20/98