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Survival Analysis of Small Informal Businesses in South Africa, 2007–2010

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  • Andre Ligthelm

Abstract

Annual surveys were conducted among a small business panel of 300 businesses during the four-year period 2007 to 2010 aimed at examining small business survival and mortality. By contrasting the profiles of successful businesses with those that closed their doors, a second objective was also attained, namely the identification of principle reasons for small business survival and sustainability. The survey data were applied in a categorical regression model with business survival as dependent variable and several independent variables related to competitive environment, entrepreneurial endowment and comparative advantages as independent variables. The analysis identified the human factor in small businesses and specifically entrepreneurial actions and business management skills as the strongest predictors of small business survival. Businesses portraying these characteristics should be the focus of small business support strategies. Copyright Eurasia Business and Economics Society 2011

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  • Andre Ligthelm, 2011. "Survival Analysis of Small Informal Businesses in South Africa, 2007–2010," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 1(2), pages 160-179, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurasi:v:1:y:2011:i:2:p:160-179
    DOI: 10.14208/BF03353804
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    Cited by:

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    5. Quatraro, Francesco & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "Entrepreneurship In A Developing Country Context," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201314, University of Turin.
    6. Sujata Ghosh & Biswajit Mandal, 2019. "Bureaucratic efficiency, economic reform and informal sector," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 121-137, June.
    7. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2015. "Cameras tracking shoppers: the economics of retail video surveillance," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 235-257, December.
    8. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    9. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.
    10. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Entry and Post-Entry Dynamics in Developing Countries," GREDEG Working Papers 2013-20, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.

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