The Most Entrepreneurial Metropolitan Area?

This report is based on federal government data -- available to the public for the first time -- on business startups at the metropolitan area level. By decomposing into four population size classes, this report can provide more effective peer-to-peer comparisons of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (i.e., large vs. large, and small vs. small).The paper compares the trends in 40 metropolitan areas with higher numbers of startups over the past two decades to the significant national downward trend in overall new firm formation starting after 2006.Nationally, the trend reversed and started to recover in 2011. No metropolitan area escaped this downward trend, but there are differences among regions in the timing of the downturn and subsequent recovery.The paper demonstrates that Metropolitan Statistical Areas of different locations and sizes can have similar measures of startup density. Surprisingly, many of the MSAs that performed well in the evaluation are not commonly thought of as significant locations of startup activity.The largest MSAs -- those with populations greater than 1 million -- fared slightly better through the recession and have experienced slightly stronger recoveries, though none has returned to pre-downturn levels

Give Me Your Entrepreneurs, Your Innovators: Estimating the Employment Impact of a Startup Visa

The idea of visas for immigrant entrepreneurs has bounced around the country for many years, and even has been introduced into Congress on more than one occasion. The most recent is Startup Act 3.0, a bipartisan bill recently introduced into the U.S. Senate that, among other things, includes a Startup Visa. In this current incarnation, the new Startup Visa would make available a fixed pot of 75,000 visas for individuals who start companies. Initial eligibility would be restricted to individuals who already are in the United States on either H-1B visas or F-1 student visas. Once the Startup Visa is issued, further requirements are imposed in the first year. During that time, the entrepreneur must register a business, employ at least two full-time, non-family employees, and invest or raise an investment of at least $100,000. If, after one year, those requirements are met, the entrepreneur gets three additional years on the visa. During that three-year period, the entrepreneur must employ at least five full-time, non-family employees. The original two employees count toward these five, which means the business essentially must hire one person per year after the first year of operation. At the end of three years, the entrepreneur may apply to have the conditional status removed.This report attempts to estimate the impact on job creation that enactment of such a Startup Visa would have. Calculations suggest that a Startup Visa could create anywhere from 500,000 to 1.6 million jobs over the next ten years. Because of the assumptions and methods used, these estimates are considered very conservative, low-end estimates