151283 20251017144611.0 doi 10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101035 sideral 124132 ART-2021-124132 eng Cuellar-Fernández, B. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5557-0380 Survival of e-commerce entrepreneurs: The importance of brick-and-click and internationalization strategies 2021 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted E-commerce is a fast-growing industry that attracts many entrepreneurs; however, the survival rate is lower than that of other industries. Entrepreneurs take many strategic decisions that have a significant bearing on the success of their e-commerce ventures. Two are particularly salient for our research: Is it better to start as a pure-click or open a physical store? To what extent should e-commerce ventures internationalize? We also wonder if it is worth reviewing the first annual accounts available. Grounding on organizational ecology theory, we develop a model hypothesizing that (1) the brick-and-click strategy favours survival; (2) internationalization favours survival; (3) firm size and financial health matter; (4) earnings management mediates the relationship between financial health and survival; and (5) the brick-and-click and internationalization strategies mediate the relationship between size and survival. The empirical study is performed by analysing seven years of data on 632 new e-commerce ventures using non-parametric means tests, a Cox regression, and a generalized structural equation model. The study tests the strategies followed by e-commerce entrepreneurs and firm characteristics that influence survival. We find that the risk of bankruptcy is 1.437 times greater for pure-click than for brick-and-click retailers, 2.778 times greater for local players than for internationalized firms, and 1.787 times greater for unprofitable firms than for profitable firms. Hence, it is worth analysing the financial statements provided by entrepreneurs; however, signs of earnings management should be checked. All these factors affect the probability of early bankruptcy as well as explain survival several years later. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/S38-17R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MCINN/RTI2018-093483-B-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es 5.622 2021 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS 34 / 163 = 0.209 2021 Q1 T1 BUSINESS 66 / 154 = 0.429 2021 Q2 T2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS 30 / 112 = 0.268 2021 Q2 T1 1.365 2021 Computer Networks and Communications 2021 Q1 Marketing 2021 Q1 Computer Science Applications 2021 Q1 10.0 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Fuertes-Callén, Y. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-6468-0944 Serrano-Cinca, C. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-2596-9638 4002 230 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Contabilidad y Finanzas Área Economía Finan. y Contab. 46 (2021), 101035 [16 pp.] Electronic Commerce Research and Applications Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 1567-4223 2274827 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151283/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2602002 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151283/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:151283 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:17:22 ARTICLE