Kauffman Index of Startup Activity: State Trends 2016

88 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2016

See all articles by Arnobio Morelix

Arnobio Morelix

Startup Genome

Robert W. Fairlie

UCLA; National Bureau of Economic Research

E. J. Reedy

University of Chicago - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship

Joshua Russell-Fritch

Independent

Date Written: August 2016

Abstract

The Kauffman Index of Startup Activity is a comprehensive indicator of new business creation in the United States, integrating several high-quality sources of timely entrepreneurship information into one composite indicator of startup activity. The Index captures business activity in all industries and is based on both a nationally representative sample size of more than a half million observations each year and on the universe of all employer businesses in the United States — which covers approximately five million companies. This allows us to look at both entrepreneurs and the startups they create.

This report presents trends in startup activity for the fifty United States and analyzes trends for states, looking at them in two cohorts: one for the twenty-five largest states by population and another for the twenty-five smallest states by population. Data on each state is benchmarked against the national average, with further detail available for metropolitan areas in the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity | Metropolitan Area and City Trends and trends and demographics at the national level in the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity | National Trends.

Startup activity rose in 2016 — continuing an upward trend started in 2015. Only two years ago, the Startup Activity Index was at its lowest point in the last twenty years. Today it has gone up two years in a row, reaching close to the peak before the Great Recession drop.

A principal driver of this year’s uptick is the growth of opportunity entrepreneurship, accompanied by an increase in the rate of new entrepreneurs among women — covered in the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity | National Trends. High-performing metros include perennial favorites like Austin and San Francisco, as well as some less-highlighted places, such as Los Angeles and Houston — covered in the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity | Metropolitan Area and City Trends.

Keywords: kauffman index, entrepreneurship, startup, state, policy, growth, united states, high-growth, business

Suggested Citation

Morelix, Arnobio and Fairlie, Robert W. and Reedy, E. J. and Russell-Fritch, Joshua, Kauffman Index of Startup Activity: State Trends 2016 (August 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2830605 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2830605

Arnobio Morelix (Contact Author)

Startup Genome ( email )

212 Clara Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
United States

Robert W. Fairlie

UCLA ( email )

405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org/people/robert_fairlie?page=1&perPage=50

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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