Success of start-up firms: the role of financial constraints

Although there are some studies that empirically test the impact of financial constraints on the success of start-ups, the persistence of this impact is not well understood. Using survey data for a cohort of Swiss start-ups that were observed during a period of 10 years, we find that financial constraints are not only a problem of the first years. Although the negative impact of financial constraints on firm survival disappears with increasing age of the firms, profit is persistently negatively affected by financial constraints.