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The Small Business Sector in Recent Recoveries

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  • Michael J Chow
  • William C Dunkelberg

Abstract

Small businesses account for half of private GDP, half of the private workforce, and most new jobs. This paper documents that small businesses have fared unusually poorly in the current recovery, dragging down output and employment growth, even while large businesses and agriculture have prospered. The reasons for the poor performance of small business are documented and analyzed with data from surveys of the National Federation of Independent Business. The findings contradict much conventional wisdom relating to six broad aspects of small business activity: employment and hiring plans, expectations and investment, past sales and earnings, inventories, prices, and credit conditions. The implication of the findings is that a robust economic recovery for the entire U.S. economy will depend on public policy that is tailored to permit and encourage small business expansion.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J Chow & William C Dunkelberg, 2011. "The Small Business Sector in Recent Recoveries," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 214-228, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:buseco:v:46:y:2011:i:4:p:214-228
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Aaron H. Anglin & Aaron F. McKenny & Jeremy C. Short, 2018. "The Impact of Collective Optimism on New Venture Creation and Growth: A Social Contagion Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 390-425, May.
    2. Dienes, Christian & Pahnke, André & Wolter, Hans-Jürgen, 2018. "Investitionsverhalten von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen," IfM-Materialien 268, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    3. Rosa Caiazza & Phillip Phan & Erik Lehmann & Henry Etzkowitz, 2021. "An absorptive capacity-based systems view of Covid-19 in the small business economy," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1419-1439, September.
    4. Lai, Yanqing & Saridakis, George & Blackburn, Robert & Johnstone, Stewart, 2016. "Are the HR responses of small firms different from large firms in times of recession?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 113-131.

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