Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
DOI
10.1080/1540496X.2026.2713097
Publication Title
Emerging Markets Finance and Trade
Volume
Advance online publication
Pages
1-15
Abstract
This paper examines how sales channel diversification influences firm resilience during the COVID crisis. Drawing on a series of logit regressions analyzing 11,662 firms across 31 developing countries, we find that firms embodying an open mind-set and a diverse array of sales channels, akin to foxes, are more likely to survive, as compared to their hedgehog counterparts, which focus on one particular task. Our mediation analysis suggests that this is mainly due to their faster growth in sales and exports. Moreover, we find that the impact of fox-like traits on firm survival is moderated by female leadership and corporate innovation.
Rights
© 2026 The Authors.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Data Availability
Article states: "The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request."
ORCID
0000-0002-7296-084X (Li)
Original Publication Citation
Fang, S., Li, S., & Wang, L. (2026). The fox versus the hedgehog: Firm survival during unprecedented crises. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2026.2713097
Repository Citation
Fang, Sheng; Li, Shaomin; and Wang, Liu, "The Fox Versus the Hedgehog: Firm Survival During Unprecedented Crises" (2026). Management Faculty Publications. 95.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/management_fac_pubs/95
Supplementary Material
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