Early-Stage Business Formation: An Analysis of Applications for Employer Identification Numbers

Kimberly Bayard, Emin Dinlersoz, Timothy Dunne, John Haltiwanger, Javier Miranda and John Stevens ()
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Kimberly Bayard: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/kimberly-n-bayard.htm

No 2018-015, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: This paper reports on the development and analysis of a newly constructed dataset on the early stages of business formation. The data are based on applications for Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) submitted in the United States, known as IRS Form SS-4 filings. The goal of the research is to develop high-frequency indicators of business formation at the national, state, and local levels. The analysis indicates that EIN applications provide forward-looking and very timely information on business formation. The signal of business formation provided by counts of applications is improved by using the characteristics of the applications to model the likelihood that applicants become employer businesses. The results also suggest that EIN applications are related to economic activity at the local level. For example, application activity is higher in counties that experienced higher employment growth since the end of the Great Recession, and application counts grew more rapidly in counties engaged in shale oil and gas extraction. Finally, the paper provides a description of new public use dataset, the ?Business Formation Statistics (BFS),? that contains new data series on business applications and formation. The initial release of the BFS shows that the number of business applications in the 3rd quarter of 2017 that have relatively high likelihood of becoming job creators is still far below pre-Great Recession levels.

Keywords: Business fluctuations and cycles; Urban rural and regional economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 73 pages
Date: 2018-03-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018015pap.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Early-Stage Business Formation: An Analysis of Applications for Employer Identification Numbers (2018)
Working Paper: Early-Stage Business Formation: An Analysis of Applications for Employer Identification Numbers (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2018-15

DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2018.015

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