Kauffman Index: Growth Entrepreneurship National Trends

60 Pages Posted: 24 May 2016

See all articles by Arnobio Morelix

Arnobio Morelix

Startup Genome

E. J. Reedy

University of Chicago - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship

Joshua Russell-Fritch

Independent

Date Written: May 2016

Abstract

The Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship is an early indicator of business growth in the United States, integrating several high-quality sources of timely information into one composite indicator of entrepreneurial business growth. The Index captures growth entrepreneurship in all industries, and is based on the universe of all U.S. employer businesses (approximately 5 million firms) and a privately collected benchmark of growth businesses. This allows us to measure business growth from both revenue and job creation perspectives. Moreover, we also present trends on business exits - more particularly initial public offerings, a business milestone commonly associated with innovative, high-growth companies.

This report shows that U.S. entrepreneurial businesses are growing, and rose in the last year for the third year in a row. This year’s increase was driven by startups growing faster in their first five years than they were in previous years, and more young companies scaling up employment. The entrepreneurial activity increase in the 2016 Index represents the largest year-over-year increase in the past decade. Despite these promising markers, however, many U.S. growth indicators remain in a long-term decline.

Keywords: Kauffman Index, entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, growth, new business, job creation, United States, exits

Suggested Citation

Morelix, Arnobio and Reedy, E. J. and Russell-Fritch, Joshua, Kauffman Index: Growth Entrepreneurship National Trends (May 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2783817 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2783817

Arnobio Morelix (Contact Author)

Startup Genome ( email )

212 Clara Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
United States

E. J. Reedy

University of Chicago - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Ave., Suite 207
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773-834-0812 (Phone)

Joshua Russell-Fritch

Independent ( email )

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