Regional determinants of exit across firms' size: evidence from a developing country

We analyse the determinants of exit in a developing country using Argentina as an illustrative case. We focus on regional determinants but estimate panel count data models for firms of different size, thus indirectly controlling for a major firm-level determinant. We find that most of the determinants used in previous studies analysing developed countries are also relevant here. The fit of the model improves, however, when variables that proxy for the specificities of developing economies are considered. We also find that while the exit of micro-small firms seem to be mostly driven by factors that are commonly found in developed countries, large firms are more influenced by factors that are typically not considered in developed countries' studies. These results raise doubts about the usefulness of public policies based on evidence from developed countries and show the importance of a differentiated analysis across firm size.