Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship

Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship
Name	Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship
Established	2007
Founder	Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Focus	Entrepreneurship metrics and trends
Country	United States

Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship The Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship is a longitudinal research initiative produced by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that tracks new business creation, startup activity, and entrepreneurial dynamics across the United States. It provides periodic reports and interactive data that inform scholars, policymakers, investors, and nonprofit leaders about trends in firm formation, employer startups, and nascent entrepreneurship. Major outlets, research centers, and civic institutions commonly cite its measures when assessing regional competitiveness, labor markets, and innovation ecosystems.

Overview

The project originated within the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and has been cited alongside work from Brookings Institution, National Bureau of Economic Research, Pew Research Center, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, Duke University, Cornell University, New York University, London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Minnesota, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, and University of Washington in comparative entrepreneurship research. Analysts from think tanks such as American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation, Center for American Progress, Cato Institute, Urban Institute, Mercatus Center, RAND Corporation, Resources for the Future, Aspen Institute, The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, and Information Technology and Innovation Foundation have used its indicators to evaluate startup ecosystems. Media organizations including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Economist, Financial Times, CNBC, NPR, BBC News, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Politico, Vox, Slate (magazine), Wired (magazine), Fast Company, Inc. (magazine), Fortune (magazine), Business Insider, Quartz (publication), and The Atlantic have referenced its analyses.

Methodology

The methodology synthesizes administrative data, survey responses, and time-series aggregation, aligning with standards used by Bureau of Labor Statistics panels, U.S. Census Bureau business registers, and cross-national practices from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It integrates employer identification metrics similar to Internal Revenue Service filings and establishment counts comparable to Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages outputs. Econometric approaches draw on methods found in publications from National Bureau of Economic Research, National Science Foundation, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, Bank for International Settlements, and academic treatments published in journals associated with American Economic Association, American Sociological Association, Academy of Management, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and Association for Computing Machinery. Data cleaning, de-duplication, and seasonal adjustment follow protocols used by U.S. Census Bureau demographers and Bureau of Labor Statistics statisticians.

Components and Indicators

Core components include the rate of new entrepreneurs, the number of employer startups, survival rates of nascent firms, age composition of entrepreneurs, and regional density of startup activity. Specific indicators are conceptually comparable to measures used by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Startup Genome, Crunchbase, PitchBook, AngelList, CB Insights, National Venture Capital Association, Kauffman Foundation, Small Business Administration, Economic Innovation Group, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce (United States), and SCORE (organization). The indicators track founder demographics referenced in work by Catalyst (nonprofit), National Urban League, NAACP, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, and labor studies from Economic Policy Institute. The component set parallels metrics in regional indices such as those by Milken Institute, KPMG, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, PwC, EY (company), Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, Gartner (company), and research outputs from Silicon Valley Bank.

Historical Trends and Findings

Reports have documented post-2007 shifts in startup rates, with comparisons to recovery phases following the Great Recession (2007–2009), the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, and periods of technological diffusion tied to innovations from firms like Apple Inc., Microsoft, Google LLC, Amazon (company), Facebook (now Meta Platforms), Tesla, Inc., Intel Corporation, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Cisco Systems, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation, Siemens, Bayer, Pfizer, Moderna, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Novartis, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, BP, Shell plc, General Electric, Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Uber Technologies, Airbnb, Inc., Lyft (company), and Shopify. Findings highlight geographic variation mirrored in regional economic histories like those of Silicon Valley, Route 128, Research Triangle Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Michigan, Austin, Texas, Seattle, Washington, Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Colorado, Atlanta, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Houston, Texas, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Cleveland, Ohio, Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, Raleigh, North Carolina, and international comparisons to Tel Aviv, Bengaluru, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, London, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, and Seoul.

Data Sources and Limitations

Primary data sources include administrative records, employer identification numbers, household surveys, and business registers aligning with U.S. Census Bureau products, Bureau of Labor Statistics series, Internal Revenue Service datasets, and private-sector datasets from Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, Experian, Nielsen Holdings, IDC (company), Gartner (company), Statista, S&P Global, Moody's Analytics, IHS Markit, Refinitiv, Morningstar, Inc., and Bloomberg L.P.. Limitations noted by analysts echo concerns raised in studies from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, American Statistical Association, Council of Economic Advisers, Congressional Budget Office, and Government Accountability Office: lags in administrative updates, undercounting of informal entrepreneurship, classification errors, and sampling bias. Methodological caveats are often cross-referenced with standards from International Labour Organization and data quality frameworks from United Nations Statistics Division.

Policy and Economic Implications

Policymakers in agencies such as Small Business Administration, Department of Commerce (United States), Department of Labor (United States), Federal Reserve System, Treasury Department (United States), Office of Management and Budget, and local economic development corporations use the indicators to inform taxation policy debates, workforce development initiatives, and innovation cluster strategies. Foundations and philanthropic actors including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, MacArthur Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Kresge Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and Annenberg Foundation reference these measures when allocating grants. International development agencies such as United States Agency for International Development, World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation, United Nations Development Programme, and Asian Development Bank use analogous metrics when designing entrepreneurship programs. Academic and corporate stakeholders including incubators and accelerators like Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Startups, Plug and Play Tech Center, Seedcamp, MassChallenge, Startupbootcamp, ERA (Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator), Rocket Internet, Wayra, and university entrepreneurship centers at Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, UC Berkeley, and University of Pennsylvania deploy findings to guide curriculum, mentoring, and investment decisions.

Category:Entrepreneurship metrics