No particular action needed? A necessary condition analysis of gestation activities and firm emergence

• Published in: Journal of Business Venturing Insights Vol. 8; pp. 87 - 92
• Main Authors: Arenius, Pia, Engel, Yuval, Klyver, Kim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-11-2017
• ISSN: 2352-6734; 2352-6734
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2017.07.004

Nascent entrepreneurs’ gestation activities are crucial for firm emergence. Compelled by a partial understanding of these activities as sufficient conditions, however, scholars drifted into a wild-goose chase to track down increasingly complex activity configurations. No study has ever examined gestation activities as necessary conditions for firm emergence – i.e., whether the absence of any particular gestation activity precludes firm emergence? We use the harmonized PSED dataset across four countries (N = 3537) to present a Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) of gestation activities. Challenging deep-rooted assumptions on the role of entrepreneurial action, our findings extend the literature on the emergence of new firms.
•We distinguish between necessary and sufficient conditions on reaching profitability.•No particular gestation activities are necessary to reach profits within 24 months after entry into the startup process.•Only a low number of gestation activities is necessary.