Nov 13 -- At the BEA Advisory Committee meeting, a series of presentations were made on the development of the new BEA Small Business Satellite Account. BEA is working to develop a consistent time series of economic statistics for small businesses, including small business gross domestic product (GDP). These statistics are intended to answer questions such as:
How much do small businesses contribute to economic growth?
Which industries are driving growth for small businesses?
How does growth for small businesses compare to large businesses?
How do small businesses’ employment and wages compare?
Background Information for BEA’s Small Business Satellite Account
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-10/ACM-small-business-background.pdf
Nov 13 Presentations:
Tina Highfill, BEA: Measuring the Small Business Economy
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-11/Highfill-Nov-2020-ACM-small-business_0.pptx
Richard Prisinzano, Penn Wharton: Small Business Identification: How and Why
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-11/BEA-presentation-20201113-Prisinzano.pptx
Danny Leung, Statistics Canada: Measuring the Contribution of Small Businesses to the Canadian Economy
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-11/Danny-Leung-Measuring-Small-Businesses-in-Canada-November-2020.pptx
John Haltiwanger, University of Maryland: BEA Satellite Account on Small Business Activity
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-11/BEA-Satellite-Account-on-Small-Business-Activity-Haltiwanger.pptx
BEA Working Papers:
Tina Highfill and Richard Cao (BEA), Richard Schwinn (SBA) Richard Prisinzano, (Penn), Danny Leung (Statistics Canada), Measuring the Small Business Economy (March 2020)
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/papers/BEA-WP2020-4_0.pdf
Tina Highfill and Erich Strassner (BEA), Experimental Estimates of Wages and Gross Output by Business Size and Industry, 2002-2012 (December 2017)
https://www.bea.gov/system/files/papers/WagesGOby-business-size.pdf
Questions:
Should BEA pursue definitions using both employment and revenue? What are advantages of having multiple definitions?
What employment and/or revenue values should BEA use to classify businesses by size?
Are enterprise-level statistics preferable to establishment-level? If so, why?
What statistics are most important for BEA to focus on?
Point of contact: Tina Highfill, BEA tina.highfill@bea.gov 301-278-9266
