Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) Third Follow Up Methodology Report

Abstract

Although entrepreneurship is crucial to a capitalist economy, little information is available about U.S. businesses in their first years of operation. As part of an effort to gather more data on new businesses in the United States, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation sponsored the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS), a panel study of businesses founded in 2004 and tracked over their first years of operation. The KFS collects data about the nature of new business formation; the characteristics of the strategy, offerings, and employment patterns; the nature of the financial and organizational arrangements of these businesses; and the characteristics of those who own and operate them. With the completion of the Third Follow-Up, the KFS has collected this information from the panel of diverse businesses over four years, providing a unique look at business dynamics over this formative period.