Research
What's new:
Short note: "Surging business formation in the pandemic: A brief update," with John Haltiwanger.
Paper: "Surging business formation in the pandemic: Causes and consequences?" with John Haltiwanger. Published in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity Fall 2023 conference volume. (See also High tech business entry in the pandemic era).
Discussion [slides] [video]: "New U.S. business establishments: Surging or stalling?" (paper by Cao, Hyatt, Mukoyama, and Sager); discussion at the July 2024 CRIW meeting.
Peer- and editor-reviewed publications
Surging business formation in the pandemic: Causes and consequences? with John Haltiwanger. 2024. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Presented at the Fall 2023 BPEA conference. [paper summary] [2023 conference draft] [conference slides] [presentation video]
Business exit during the COVID-19 pandemic: Non-traditional measures in historical context, with Leland D. Crane, Aaron Flaaen, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz. 2022. Journal of Macroeconomics 72 (June). [FEDS working paper #2020-089]
Boom town business dynamics, with Meagan McCollum and Gregory B. Upton Jr. 2024 (accepted in 2020). Journal of Human Resources 59 no 4. [recent draft including appendix] [FEDS working paper #2020-081]
Improving the accuracy of economic measurement with multiple data sources: The case of payroll employment data, with Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz. 2022. In Katharine G. Abraham, Ron S. Jarmin, Brian Moyer, and Matthew D. Shapiro, eds., Big Data for 21st Century Economic Statistics, NBER Book Series Studies in Income and Wealth, University of Chicago Press. [NBER working paper #26033] [FEDS working paper #2019-065]
Changing business dynamism and productivity: Shocks vs. responsiveness with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. 2020. American Economic Review 110 no. 12:3952-3990.
Previous draft: [NBER working paper #24236] [FEDS working paper #2018-007]
This paper combines research from two previously circulating working papers: (1) "Changing business dynamism: Volatility of shocks vs. responsiveness to shocks?", and (2) "Declining business dynamism: Implications for productivity?". The latter paper was prepared for a Brookings Hutchins Center conference and is described here.
The U.S. labor market during the beginning of the Pandemic Recession, with Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, John Grigsby, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, Erik Hurst, Chris Kurz, and Ahu Yildirmaz. 2020. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (Summer): 3-33.
Where Has All the Skewness Gone? The Decline in High-Growth (Young) Firms in the U.S., with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. 2016. European Economic Review 86 (July): 4-23. (CES working paper #15-43; NBER working paper #21776) [Web appendix]. Note: Figure 1 of the published draft is missing Y axis labels. See corrected figure here.
Market exposure and endogenous firm volatility over the business cycle, with Pablo N. D'Erasmo and Hernan Moscoso Boedo. 2016. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 8(1): 148-98. Note: This paper originally circulated as "Intangibles and endogenous firm volatility over the business cycle".
The role of entrepreneurship in U.S. job creation and economic dynamism, with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. 2014. Journal of Economic Perspectives 28:3-24.
Other publications
High tech business entry in the pandemic era, with John Haltiwanger. FEDS Notes, 29 April 2024.
Rising markups and declining business dynamism: Evidence from the industry cross section, with Brian Albrecht. FEDS Notes, 8 March 2024
Payroll employment at the weekly frequency, with Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz. 2023. AEA Papers & Proceedings 113 (May): 203-207.
A note on industry concentration measurement, with Jacob Williams. FEDS Notes, 3 February 2023.
Note: Economic Census concentration data can be downloaded from the Census Bureau website.
Data for the years 1997-2012 are at https://www2.census.gov/econYYYY/EC/, where "YYYY" is the full year.
Data for 2017 can be downloaded as a single file at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700SIZECONCEN.zip.
For the purposes of the note, in 2002-2017 we focus on the combined taxable and nontaxable universe. In 1997, we use taxable only, as no combined category is provided.
Our single dataset containing concentration ratios and sales for all available industries at all available levels of industry detail can be downloaded here: top firm share data compiled from Economic Censuses in Stata format
Business entry and exit in the COVID-19 pandemic: A preliminary look at official data, with John Haltiwanger. FEDS Notes, 6 May 2022.
Across the universe: Policy support for employment and revenue in the Pandemic Recession, with Robert J. Kurtzman, Byron F. Lutz, and Christopher J. Nekarda. 2021. AEA Papers & Proceedings 111 (May): 267-271.
Related longer working paper: FEDS working paper #2020-099
Tracking the labor market with "big data", with Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz. FEDS Notes, 20 September 2019.
Review of Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business, by Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind. 2019. Business Economics 54:145-147. Published version here.
Note: Due to journal formatting constraints, the published version omits most references. See working paper version with updated references discussion here.
Leaving money on the table: Declining responsiveness and the productivity slowdown, with John Haltiwanger, Ron Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. VOXEU column, 12 July 2018.
Natural disasters and the measurement of industrial production: Hurricane Harvey, a case study, with Kimberly Bayard and Charles Gilbert. FEDS Note, 11 October 2017.
Declining dynamism, allocative efficiency, and the productivity slowdown, with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. 2017. American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 107(5): 322-326. [pdf including online appendix] (FEDS Working Paper #2017-019).
Unraveling the oil conundrum: Productivity improvements and cost declines in the U.S. shale oil industry, with Aaron Flaaen and Maria D. Tito. FEDS Note, 22 March 2016.
Declining business dynamism: What we know and the way forward, with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. 2016. American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 106(5): 203-207.
The decline of high-growth entrepreneurship, with John Haltiwanger, Ron Jarmin, and Javier Miranda. VOXEU column, 19 March 2016.
Working papers
Markups and business dynamism across industries, with Brian Albrecht (new draft coming this fall).
Research with Private Sector Business Microdata: The Case of NETS/D&B, with Leland D. Crane. Previously circulated as "Business Dynamics in the National Establishment Time Series (NETS)," which was FEDS working paper #2019-034.
Entrepreneurship and state taxation, with E. Mark Curtis (last draft January 2018), FEDS working paper #2018-003 (under review). [FEDS working paper #2018-003]. Note: This paper originally circulated as "Entrepreneurship and state policy".
Collateral damage: Housing, entrepreneurship, and job creation (latest draft Jan 2015).
Permanent unpublished manuscripts
Tracking Labor Market Developments during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preliminary Assessment, with Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Chrisopher Kurz. (FEDS working paper #2020-030).
Using payroll processor microdata to measure aggregate labor market activity, with Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, Christopher Kurz, and Tyler Radler. (FEDS working paper #2018-005).
An assessment of the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) database with Keith Barnatchez and Leland D. Crane (last draft October 2017). FEDS working paper #2017-110. (FEDS working paper #2017-110, FRB Minneapolis System Working Paper 17-29).
Declining business dynamism: Implications for productivity? with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda (2016). (Hutchins Center Working Paper #23)
This manuscript was prepared for a Brookings Hutchins Center event on productivity growth. We do not intend to publish this specific manuscript. Much of the material included in this paper is present in other papers, some published and some still in progress.
The Secular Decline in Business Dynamism in the U.S., with John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda (2014).
We do not intend to publish this manuscript. Much of the material included in this paper is present in other papers, some published and some still in progress.
Discussions and ad hoc presentations
"New U.S. business establishments: Surging or stalling?" by Cao, Hyatt, Mukoyama, and Sager. Conference on Income and Wealth at the 2024 NBER Summer Institute, July 15, 2024. [slides] [video]
"Expanding the frontier of economic statistics using big data: A case study of regional employment," by Abe Dunn, Eric English, Kyle Hood, Lowell Mason, Brian Quistorff. Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC), June 14, 2024. [slides] [video]
"Recent patterns of new business creation" (ad hoc presentation). The Austin Symposium, May 8, 2024. [slides] [video]