Title: Start-up survival: the role of human capital, initial firm characteristics, and network resources

Authors: Nirmalkumar Singh Moirangthem; Malaya Ranjan Mohapatra; Soumen Rej

Addresses: National Institute of Technology Manipur, Imphal, Manipur, 795004, India ' Indian Institute of Management Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India ' Amity Business School, Amity University, Kolkata, India

Abstract: The objective of this study is to explore factors or predictors of start-up survival, particularly in emerging economies, from the perspectives of human capital, initial firm characteristics, and network resources. Using data from 61 Indian start-ups during 2012 and 2020 from different sectors, a non-parametric approach of the Cox proportional hazard model is used to study the association between start-up survival and eight relevant determinants. Our findings suggest that human capital and initial financial capital are positively associated with start-up survival. However, other predictor covariates like founders' entrepreneurial experience, firm size, and network resources are found to be not significantly associated with start-up survival. With the limited availability of data, the study contributes to the existing knowledge of the entrepreneurial phenomenon of start-up survival in emerging economies by exploring the roles of different factors.

Keywords: start-up survival; entrepreneurship; human capital; firm characteristics; network resource.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2025.154210

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2025 Vol.17 No.4, pp.481 - 506

Accepted: 09 Feb 2026
Published online: 16 Jun 2026 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article