2021, John Haltiwanger, "How New Business Applications Surged during the Pandemic"

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to restructuring in some parts of the US economy. Many businesses have closed, particularly in hard-hit sectors like entertainment, hospitality, and transportation. At the same time, entrepreneurs have been launching new businesses. In mid-2020, several months into the pandemic, the number of business startups reached an all-time peak. In a new research paper (28912), NBER Research Associate John Haltiwanger of the University of Maryland analyzes the Business Formation Statistics compiled by the US Census Bureau. He documents the sharp and sustained increase in new business registrations, and distinguishes between startups that are likely to hire employees and those that are not. Haltiwanger describes his findings in the video above, and explains that the surge in startups is a critical part of the reallocation of economic activity associated with the pandemic. An archive of NBER videos on pandemic-related research may be found here. An archive of NBER videos on pandemic-related research may be found here.