Title: Perceived barriers to entry: are there any differences between small, medium-sized and large companies?

Authors: Ron Kemp, Clemens Lutz

Addresses: Netherlands Comptition Authority, P.O. Box 16326, The Hague 2500 BH, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Management and Organization, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, Groningen 9700 AV, The Netherlands

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to provide empirical evidence about the importance of barriers to entry. In particular, the perceptions of firms are considered. Three questions are addressed: which entry-barriers are important in the perception of firms in the Dutch economy? Do these perceptions differ between sectors? Do these perceptions differ between small and large firms? It is shown that the procurement of a viable sales volume, access to capital and financial risk, are considered to be the major barriers. The ranking of the importance of specific barriers to entry coheres among the sectors under study. The most remarkable result is that the figures indicate that micro firms perceive lower barriers to entry than medium-sized and large firms.

Keywords: structural barriers; strategic barriers; entry barriers; SMEs; The Netherlands; small firms; large firms; medium firms; market entry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2006.010542

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2006 Vol.3 No.5, pp.538 - 553

Published online: 30 Jul 2006 *

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