Firm survival: methods and evidence

This paper surveys the Industrial Organization literature on firm survival. We find that, in retrospect, the econometric specifications used in this area have progressively become more sophisticated, addressing issues such as discrete time, unobserved heterogeneity and competing risks. We also identify a number of firm- and industry-specific covariates that provide largely consistent results across samples, countries and periods. On the other hand, the evidence is less clear-cut with regard to ownership and spatial factors.