Who survives and why? Beyond innovation, internationalization, size, and age: Configurational evidence from family and non-family firms in Spain

Most firms aspire to longevity, yet only a minority survive more than their initial years. Unsurprisingly, then, business survival has long attracted the interest of many academics. The various factors thought to influence business longevity have generated multiple studies on ownership status, such as family versus non-family business, as an important determinant of business survival. A large body of research has also concluded that firms that innovate are more likely to survive. Finally, numerous studies have found that larger, more mature firms have higher survival rates than their smaller, younger counterparts. Similarly, as suggested in recent business literature, exporting firms appear to have higher survival rates than non-exporting ones. However, there is a significant gap in the joint analysis of these variables, particularly in the case of family firms. To address this gap, the present research seeks to shed new light on the different combinations of factors that lead to success, harnessing the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) technique to analyze complex business phenomena. The study identifies four pathways to survival. A firm’s innovativeness and exporting activity are key factors that, combined with other identifying characteristics, such as age, size and family status, make up the “survivor's recipe”. These findings not only broaden the theoretical understanding of business survival, but also provide practical tools for strategic decision-making.