What do survey data tell us about U.S. businesses?

Survey

In a recent Staff Report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, faculty Ellen McGrattan and Anmol Bhandari, with graduate students Serdar Birinci and Kurt See, examine the reliability of survey data on business incomes, valuations, and rates of return, which are key inputs for studies of wealth inequality and entrepreneurial choice.

What do survey data tell us about U.S. businesses?
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By comparing survey responses of business owners with available data from administrative tax records, brokered private business sales, and publicly traded company filings, the authors find that discrepancies exist and are economically relevant for the statistics of interest.

In this report, the authors propose corrections for future survey designs.

 

Ellen McGrattan is the director of the Heller-Hurwicz Economics Institute and a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Minnesota
Anmol Bhandari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Minnesota

 

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