October 26, 2005
Kauffman Firm Survey
Zoltan Acs
Kauffman Foundation Scholar-in-Residence
zacs@kauffman.org
zacs@ubalt.edu
Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS)
The Kauffman Firm Survey is a longitudinal
survey of new firms that focuses on their financial
development during the first four years of
existence. The survey will have a sample size of
approximately 5,000 firms started in 2004 and
uses a list frame sample of new businesses
selected from the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B)
database.
KFS Team
• Principal Investigator: Scott Shane,
Case Western Reserve University
•Survey Firm: Mathematica Policy Research,
Princeton, New Jersey
Survey Objectives
• Create a longitudinal dataset that tracks new
businesses over four years
• Focus on the financial development of the
business
• Oversample high-technology businesses
• Create a public use data source
• Inform policy decisions and academic analysis
Definition of “new businesses”
• Not a branch, subsidiary, or inherited
business
• Not a not-for-profit organization
• No other legal status prior to 2004
• Did not apply for employer identification
number (EIN) in 2003 or earlier
• Did not file Schedule C before 2004
• Did not make UI payments before 2004
• Did not make federal social security (FICA)
payments before 2004
Questionnaire Modules
A - Introduction
B - Eligibility Screening
C - Business Characteristics
D – Strategy and Innovation
E - Business Organization and Human
Resources Benefits
F - Business Finances
G - Work Behaviors and Demographics of Owner(s)
Developmental Process
• Pilot Test 1 in August 2004
• Pilot Test 2 in early 2005
• Full study began in Summer 2005
Pilot Test 1
August 2004, approximately 200 interviews with
firms started in 2003
• To assess accuracy of the D&B women-owned firm
indicator. The comparison indicated a high degree of
correlation between D&B indicators and owner gender
reporting.
• To determine the incidence of businesses that were still
operating. Approximately 7 percent of the 2003 firms
reported being out of business.
• To test the incidence of businesses that would meet
potential eligibility criteria
Pilot Test 2
Early 2005, 400 interviews with firms started in 2003
•To test instrument length and structure
•To test use of incentives
•Test web-survey data collection
•To determine level of effort needed to achieve
an acceptable cooperation and response rate
Changes Resulting from
Pilot Test 2
• Cut roughly one-third of questions
• Determined that a $50 incentive would be effective
• Decided to use both web and computer-assisted
telephone interviewing (CATI) survey instruments
Baseline Survey
Currently in the field
• Sample size of approximately 5,000 owners
of businesses started in 2004.
• 3,000 interviews will be allocated to two
categories of high-technology businesses,
and 2,000 interviews will be allocated to all
other industrial classifications.
•Three annual follow-up interviews are
planned with businesses still in existence.
KFS Data Availability
Data from the baseline survey will begin
to be available to researchers by the fall
of 2006. Information regarding
availability will be posted on the
Kauffman Foundation’s
Entrepreneurship Research Portal at
www.kauffman.org/research.
KFS Contacts
Scott Shane
Principal Investigator
Case Western Reserve University
sas46@weatherhead.cwru.edu
David DesRoches
Survey Researcher
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
DDesRoches@mathematica-mpr.com
Alyse Freilich
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
afreilich@kauffman.org