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Is regulation to blame for the decline in American entrepreneurship?

Author

Listed:
  • Nathan Goldschlag
  • Alex Tabarrok

Abstract

Mounting evidence suggests that economic dynamism and entrepreneurial activity are declining in the United States. Over the past 30 years, the annual number of new business startups and the pace of job reallocation have declined significantly. We ask whether this decline in dynamism can be explained by federal regulation. We combine measures of dynamism with RegData, a novel dataset leveraging the text of the Code of Federal Regulations to create annual measures of the total quantity of regulation by industry. We find that rising federal regulation cannot explain secular trends in economic dynamism.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan Goldschlag & Alex Tabarrok, 2018. "Is regulation to blame for the decline in American entrepreneurship?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 33(93), pages 5-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ecpoli:v:33:y:2018:i:93:p:5-44.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/epolic/eix019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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