CREAT: Census Research Exploration and Analysis Tool

Statistics on the Small Business Administration's Scale-Up America Program

April 2019

Written by: C.J. Krizan

Working Paper Number:

CES-19-11

Abstract

This paper attempts to quantify the difference in performance, of 'treated' (program participant) and 'non-treated' (non-participant) firms in SBA's Scale-Up initiative. I combine data from the SBA with administrative data housed at Census using a combination of numeric and name and address matching techniques. My results show that after controlling for available observable characteristics, a positive correlation exists between participation in the Scale-Up initiative and firm growth. However, publicly available survey results have shown that entrepreneurs have a variety of goals in-mind when they start their businesses. Two prominent, and potentially contradictory ones are work-life balance and greater income. That means that not all firms may want to grow and I am unable to completely control for owner motivations. Finally, I do not find a statistically significant relationship between participation in Scale-Up and firm survival once other business characteristics are accounted for.

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enterprise, quarterly, company, agency, growth, corporation, organizational, entrepreneurial, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, sector, firm growth, firms grow, growth firms, econometrician, business survival, partnership

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:
Service Annual Survey, Small Business Administration, Longitudinal Research Database, Center for Economic Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, County Business Patterns, Census Bureau Longitudinal Business Database, University of Chicago, MIT Press, Longitudinal Business Database, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Employer Identification Numbers, Census Bureau Business Register, Business Register, Longitudinal Firm Trade Transactions Database, Disclosure Review Board, Business Dynamics Statistics

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