Old Wine in New Bottles: The Effect of Previous Co-Worker Experience on the Survival of New Firms

The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of previous co-worker experience on the survival of new established firms. For the empirical analysis I use the Danish Integrated Database of Labor Market Research (IDA). This longitudinal employer-employee database allows me to identify co-worker experience among all members of the firm. In addition, I will make a distinction between ordinary start-ups and entrepreneurial spin-offs. The results show that previous co-worker experience has a positive effect on new firm survival. This effect appears to be valid predominantly for ordinary start-ups then for spin-offs.