The authors test whether a measure of patent activity in the United States is a reliable proxy for innovative activity. They introduce a production function for patented inventions based on knowledge, firm size, and the ease of appropriability. The results are then compared with those from their...

Recent theories of economic growth have stressed the role of externalities in generating growth. Using data from the Census Bureau that tracks all employers in the whole U.S. private sector economy, we examine the impact of these externalities, as measured by entrepreneurial activity, on...

America's future economic growth is closely tied to the growth of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Since 1980, the Federal Government has instituted active policies and programs in support of these dynamic firms. While these programs only represent a fraction of US total investment in R&D,...

A cross-section empirical analysis examining the entry behavior of small firms is provided in this paper. While the authors find that certain traditional market structure characteristics and entry barriers have a strong impact on small-firm entry behavior, the reliance upon innovative strategy...

This paper uses the new Longitudinal Establishment and Enterprise Microdata (LEEM) at CES to investigate gross and net job flows for the U. S. economy. Much of the previous work on U.S. job flows has been based on analysis of the Longitudinal Research Database (LRD), which is limited to...

This paper introduces and documents the new Longitudinal Enterprise and Establishment Microdata (LEEM) database, which has been constructed by Census' Economic Planning and Coordination Division under contract to the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The LEEM links...

This paper uses the new comprehensive Longitudinal Establishment and Enterprise Microdata at CES to investigate gross and net job flows for 1990 to 1995 for all establishments in the service sector. After examining the recent shifts in the distribution of employment in non-financial services,...

The role of education and human capital externalities is a key variable in theories of economic growth. However, the mechanism by which these externalities are realized has not been fully investigated. We examine the relationship between area differences in the levels of human capital and...

New-firm startup activity is examined within a framework pooling a cross-section of 117 industries over six time periods between 1976 and 1986. A model is introduced relating startup activity both to elements of the business cycle, in particular the macroeconomic growth rate, the cost of...