Business Closures and (Re)Openings in Real-Time Using Google Places: Proof of Concept

Daniel E. Rigobon, Thibaut Duprey, Artur Kotlicki, Philip Schnattinger, Soheil Baharian and Thomas R. Hurd
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Daniel E. Rigobon: Operations Research & Financial Engineering (ORFE), Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
Artur Kotlicki: Bank of England, London EC2R 8AH, UK
Soheil Baharian: Bank of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G9, Canada
Thomas R. Hurd: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada

JRFM, 2022, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: We present a new estimation of business opening and closure rates using data from Google Places—the data set behind the Google Maps service. Our algorithm, through a bisection routine, counts the appearance and disappearance of “pins” that represent unique businesses. As a proof of concept, we compute business opening and closure rates for the city of Ottawa during the reopening phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-2021. The lifting of restrictions coincides with a wave of re-entry of temporarily closed businesses, suggesting that government support may have facilitated the survival of hibernating businesses. Our entry estimates are validated by a survey of new businesses. This methodology allows policymakers to monitor business dynamics in quasi-real-time during rapidly unfolding crises.

Keywords: business entry rate; business exit rate; Google Places; real-time; small and medium enterprises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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