This work investigates the relationship between the characteristics and survival probabilities of firms, distinguishing between “involuntary” firm exit and exit by merger and acquisition (M&A). More in detail, we study how, and to what extent, innovation capabilities, as proxied by patents and trademarks, are able to shape, together with standard performance variables, the observed dynamics at the firm level. By using comprehensive data on Italian firms from business registers, we separate the administrative procedures leading to “involuntary” exit from those ending up with an event of M&A. We find that while higher productivity is associated with a lower probability of “involuntary” exit, productivity increases the chances of being the target for M&A. As far as intellectual property instruments are concerned, they tend to reduce the probability of both “involuntary” exit and M&A. However, the relative importance of the two instruments differs according to the exit route: patents are more relevant than trademarks in preventing “involuntary” exit, while the opposite is true for M&A.

Plain English Summary We investigate firm’s exit after a crisis. Overall innovation plays a positive role, but the relative importance of IP depends on the exit route: patents are more relevant than trademarks against “involuntary” exit, while the opposite is true for M&A. We resort to the virtual universe of Italian limited liability firms from manufacturing, trade, and service to investigate the determinants of firm survival over the period 2010–2014. We scrutinize detailed administrative data on significant events occurring to firms to distinguish between events leading to involuntary exit and to M&A. In addition to the evidence on innovation, our results show that higher productivity decreases the probability of “involuntary” exit, yet productivity increases the chances of being the target for M&A. Taken together, these findings warn against a simplistic perspective on exit: the role of innovation and firm characteristics heavily depends on the exit route.

这项工作调查了企业的特征与生存概率之间的关系，区分了“非自愿”的企业退出与并购（M＆A）退出。更详细地讲，我们研究了由专利和商标代理的创新能力如何以及在何种程度上与标准性能变量一起形成企业层面可观察到的动态。通过使用来自商业登记册的意大利公司的全面数据，我们将导致“非自愿”退出的管理程序与那些因并购事件而结束的管理程序分开。我们发现，虽然较高的生产率与较低的“非自愿”退出可能性相关联，但生产率增加了成为并购目标的机会。就知识产权文书而言，它们往往会降低“非自愿”退出和并购的可能性。但是，这两种工具的相对重要性根据退出途径的不同而不同：在防止“非自愿”退出方面，专利比商标更重要，而并购则相反。

普通英语摘要我们调查危机后公司的退出情况。总体创新起着积极的作用，但是知识产权的相对重要性取决于退出途径：对于“非自愿”退出，专利比商标更重要，而并购则相反。我们利用来自制造，贸易和服务业的意大利有限责任公司的虚拟世界来调查2010-2014年期间企业生存的决定因素。我们审查有关公司发生的重大事件的详细行政数据，以区分导致非自愿退出和并购的事件。除了创新的证据外，我们的结果还表明，更高的生产率降低了“非自愿”退出的可能性，而生产率却增加了成为并购目标的机会。在一起