Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship
Name
aeri.20180582.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
558.89 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
adeb94e95fa5bfb62fc779b950f660b7
Author(s)
Azoulay, Pierre
Jones, Benjamin F.
Kim, J. Daniel
Miranda, Javier
Date Issued
March 2020
Journal
American Economic Review: Insights
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Azoulay, Pierre et al. "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship." American Economic Review: Insights 2, 1 (March 2020): 65-82
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Many observers, and many investors, believe that young people are especially likely to produce the most successful new firms. Integrating administrative data on firms, workers, and owners, we study start-ups systematically in the United States and find that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young. The mean age at founding for the 1-in-1,000 fastest growing new ventures is 45.0. The findings are similar when considering high-technology sectors, entrepreneurial hubs, and successful firm exits. Prior experience in the specific industry predicts much greater rates of entrepreneurial success. These findings strongly reject common hypotheses that emphasize youth as a key trait of successful entrepreneurs.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20180582
