ABSTRACT

Do moderate-growth new firms have higher survival rates than fast-growing new firms? To address this question the customer bank records of 6578 new ventures are tracked over their first 10 years, and survival is measured either in terms of continued use of the bank account, or by entry into financial default. Simple bar charts show that it is the 7th or 8th decile of the growth distribution that has the highest survival chances. Although growth enhances survival on average, nevertheless the highest decile of the growth distribution never has the highest survival rates.