 The impact of entrepreneurs’ military experience on small business exit: A conservation of resources perspectiveEmma Su and Zonghui Li Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 186, issue C Abstract: Based on insights drawn from the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper examines the impact of military experience on small business exit decisions among entrepreneurs. We theorize that entrepreneurs with military backgrounds are more conservative regarding the potential resource loss associated with the entrepreneurial process than those without military experience, making them more likely to exit their business as a coping mechanism. We further theorize that these entrepreneurs are more likely to exit the business voluntarily rather than involuntarily, using business exit as a coping mechanism to preemptively manage risks before the actual losses occur. An empirical analysis of data from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners (SBO 2007) provided by the United States Census Bureau supports our hypotheses. This study contributes to our knowledge of how military service affects entrepreneurs’ decisions regarding business exit. Keywords: Business exit; Conservation of resources theory; Military experience; Veteran entrepreneur (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:186:y:2025:i:c:s0148296324005083 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115004 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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