Failure Is an Option: Institutional Change, Entrepreneurial Risk, and New Firm Growth

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Alan Miner Foundation, Michael Alfant of Fusion Systems, Inc., the Schulze Family Foundation, and Cisco Systems of Japan, who made this research possible. The authors also particularly want to thank the students and faculty at Stanford Technology Ventures Program; the participants of the Society, Technology, and Japanese Entrepreneurship conferences at Stanford University; and the Kauffman Foundation International Roundtable on Policy Studies, as well as participants at Stanford’s SCANCOR seminar. Their grateful thanks go to Riitta Katila, Woody Powell, Stephen Barley, John Gunnar Carlsson, Martin Kenney, Glenn Hoetker, Steve Vogel, Jesper Sørenson, Ramana Nanda, Christina Ahmadjian, George Foster, Anne Marie Knott, Renee Rottner, Nydia MacGregor, Jennifer Woolley, Robert Kneller, Daniel Armanios, William Miller, Keiko Ohara, Robert Sutton, and Ulrike Schaede for their helpful comments and encouragement. Any errors in this paper are the sole responsibility of the authors. This work is in fond memory of Henry Rowen and Masahiko Aoki.