Research

High-Growth Firms and the Future of the American Economy 

Into early 2010, more than two years after the recession began, the American economy continues to send out mixed signals with respect to economic recovery: GDP growth looks set to recover, while unemployment is projected to remain high for many more years. The most important economic matter facing the country is job creation, not only in terms of employment itself but also for boosting sectors such as housing, which will not fully recover until job creation recovers.

Where Will the Jobs Come From? 

This analysis of the 2007 Census data shows that young firms account for roughly two-thirds of job creation, averaging nearly four new jobs per firm per year. Of the overall 12 million new jobs added in 2007, young firms were responsible for the creation of nearly 8 million of those jobs.

The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom 

Emerging Kauffman Foundation research indicates the United States might be on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom—not in spite of an aging population but because of it.

Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2008 

New business formation increased in 2008 but, in what may be a potential harbinger of the current economic recession, U.S. entrepreneurship rates increased for the lowest-income-potential and middle-income-potential types of businesses from 2007 to 2008; it decreased for the highest-income-potential types of businesses.

Kauffman Economic Bloggers Survey 

America’s top economics bloggers—a diverse group of writers with wide-ranging intellectual and political vantage points—largely agree on one important issue: To help speed the recovery, remove barriers to entrepreneurship.