National panel study of U.S. business startups: Background and methodology

Abstract

Where do new businesses come from? Few questions are as important in modern life and for which so little is known. A research program focusing on this issue, initiated in 1992, is now reaching maturity and will do much to reduce ignorance about the firm start-up process. The following provides an introduction to the phenomena and existing knowledge about the firm creation process followed by a brief history of the current research program. The design of this research program is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the data set and its potential for analysis. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the research program and its potential impact on public policy and scholarly understanding of the entrepreneurial process. Selected details are provided in the Appendices.