A Portrait of U.S. Factoryless Goods Producers
October 2018
Working Paper Number:
CES-18-43
Abstract
This paper evaluates the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent data collection efforts to classify business entities that engage in an extreme form of production fragmentation called 'factoryless' goods production. 'Factoryless' goods-producing entities outsource physical transformation activities while retaining ownership of the intellectual property and control of sales to customers. Responses to a special inquiry on the incidence of purchases of contract manufacturing services in combination with data on production inputs and outputs, intellectual property, and international trade is used to identify and document characteristics of 'factoryless' firms in the U.S. economy.
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:
production,
manufacturing,
enterprise,
industrial,
sale,
export,
manufacturer,
factory,
multinational,
warehousing,
wholesale,
firms export,
outsourcing,
outsourced
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:
Census of Manufactures,
Center for Economic Studies,
Office of Management and Budget,
Bureau of Economic Analysis,
Company Organization Survey,
Foreign Direct Investment,
Longitudinal Business Database,
Economic Census,
Census of Services,
Wholesale Trade,
North American Industry Classification System,
Patent and Trademark Office,
Technical Services,
Census Bureau Business Register,
Business Register,
2010 Census,
Business R&D and Innovation Survey,
Business Research and Development and Innovation Survey,
Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs,
Annual Business Survey
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