SBA Office of Advocacy New Research Publications

Each year the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy documents the importance of entrepreneurship to the American economy, and highlights policy issues of significance to small firms.

The Library just received the Office of Advocacy’s Research Publications 2007 (published January 2008). This is a list of 34 reports on small business topics including banking, general small business and entrepreneurship, human capital and employment benefits, innovation and technology, owner demographics, procurement, regional economic development, and regulations and taxes.

Included in the list of publications is a report entitled, Small Business and State Growth: An Econometric Investigation (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs292tot.pdf). This report found that small business start-up is one of the most important factors in determining gross state product, state personal income, and total state employment: “…our results indicate that the most fruitful policy option available to state governments is to establish and maintain a fertile environment for new establishment formation.”

Several other studies examine regional economic development issues. Friends or Foes: The Spatial Dynamic between Established Firms and Entrants (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs293tot.pdf) shows that state and municipal economic development agencies are increasingly designing policies to nurture and support home-grown businesses to achieve their growth objectives. This study explores the impact on established firms of new local entrants. Conclusion? By the third year after entry, the effect on the financial performance of existing firms is positive. In the short term, entrants are foes and in the long term, entrants are friends.

In the SBA Office of Advocacy’s annual report, The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President for Data Year 2006 (2007 edition) (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/sb_econ2007.pdf), there is a chapter on social entrepreneurship focusing on a new breed of entrepreneurs developing solutions to social problems, and a chapter on characteristics of veteran business owners and veteran-owned businesses. Both of these chapters are worth reading if you’re a policy-maker; in the Library, I’m getting more questions from veterans opening businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to start nonprofits to solve various local social issues.

Frequently Asked Questions is a 2-page summary of other research material and provides a series of quick, easy-to-recite facts for an external audience to recognize the importance of small business to the economy. You can find this at http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf.
I keep a copy at my desk and at the Reference Desk.

SBA Office of Advocacy Research Publications 2007 is available in the Library’s Business Reference section at Main. You can also access the reports online at www.sba.gov/advo.