KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 22, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- More than half a million new businesses are started each month with the number of businesses started by immigrants and Latinos showing strong start-up activity and the rate for African-Americans growing, according to a new national assessment of entrepreneurial activity launched by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity is the first study to measure business start-up activity for the entire U.S. adult population at the individual owner level. The data are derived from the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), a national population survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Two especially surprising findings from the study are: (a) that the Latino rate of entrepreneurship increased from 0.38 percent in 1996 to 0.48 percent in 2004, which was higher than the white, non-Latino rate of 0.39 percent; and (b) that immigrants have substantially higher rates of entrepreneurship than native-born individuals. The average rate of entrepreneurship for immigrants was 0.46 percent compared to 0.35 percent for the native-born.
The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity finds that over the period from 1996 to 2004, an average of 0.36 percent of the adult population created a new business each month, representing approximately 550,000 new businesses per month. The rate of overall entrepreneurship activity remained relatively constant over the period despite major changes in the economy, with the rate of business creation generally between 0.3 and 0.4 percent. The average rate of entrepreneurship was 0.36 percent in 1996, 0.35 percent in 2001, and rose to 0.4 percent in 2004. It is too early, however, to know whether the recent increase in the entrepreneurship is due to cyclical or structural factors.
"Although research on entrepreneurship is growing rapidly, there are very few large national datasets other than the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity that provide information on recent trends in entrepreneurial business creation," said Robert W. Fairlie of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who developed the Kauffman Index.
Unlike other studies which capture young businesses that are more than a year old, the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity captures all adults 20-64 who initially start a business, including those who own incorporated or unincorporated businesses and those who are employers and non-employers. The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, which is defined as the percent of the adult U.S. population of non-business owners who start a business as their main job each month, will be conducted annually.
"The United States continues to be a very entrepreneurial nation," said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. "The large portion of entrepreneurial firms and the significant number of jobs created by smaller, newer, and growing firms in America are a strong indication that the entrepreneurial sector, with its flexibility and capacity to adapt quickly, is poised to become an even more important factor in our nation's economic growth."
Among the other findings in the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity:
-- Entrepreneurship activity is substantially higher among men than
among women. From 1996 to 2004, the average rate of
entrepreneurship for men was 0.46 percent and the average rate for
women was only 0.28 percent.
-- The rate of entrepreneurship increased in the early 2000s for men,
but not for women. The male entrepreneurship rate was 0.43 percent
in 2001 and rose to 0.50 percent in 2002.
-- Entrepreneurship activity is much lower for African-Americans than
other ethnic/racial groups; however, rates appear to be increasing.
The average rate of entrepreneurship for blacks was 0.29 percent in
1996 and 0.35 percent in 2004.
-- New entrepreneurship activity is highest in the West. Other regions
have similar rates of entrepreneurship.
-- Entrepreneurship activity increased the most in the West and South
in the past few years. The entrepreneurship rate in the West
increased from 0.42 percent in 2001 to 0.49 percent in 2004, and
the entrepreneurship rate in the South increased from 0.35 percent
to 0.41 percent.
-- The construction industry has the highest rate of entrepreneurship
of all major industry groups.
The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity differs from the recently released 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in several major ways. First, it is based on household survey data and measures individual business owners. The SBO includes all firms operating during 2002 that filed tax forms as individual proprietorships, partnerships, and any type of corporation. Second, the Kauffman Index captures business entry, whereas the SBO captures numbers of existing businesses. Increases in the number of existing businesses over time may be a result of more business creation, less business closure, or a combination of the two. Third, the Kauffman Index only includes individuals starting businesses as their main work activity with a substantial hours commitment. The SBO includes all firms with receipts of $1,000 or more, which may include side or "casual" businesses owned by wage/salary workers, the unemployed, or retired workers. Finally, the Kauffman Index includes all new business owners, whereas the SBO excludes agricultural and a few other types of businesses.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid 1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org.